Pink Cupcakes -- Pink Cake

I try to bake for my coworkers birthday's. I think everyone needs a birthday cake and I like any excuse I can to bake. One of my coworker's birthday was this week so I asked him what kind of cake he wanted. After some prodding, he finally said a white cake with white icing. So I asked what his favorite color was (who wants a plain white cake???). He kept saying he didn't have one and finally said "Pink". "Really?" I asked.... "Really??".

Ask and you shall receive. Boxed white cake mix with Spreading Consistency Wilton Butter Cream Icing. I did half cupcakes to look like flowers...
And half as a cake... as girly as I could make it. (Hey, when you ask for pink, might as well go all out!)
I think he liked it! It definitely was delicious!

Happy Birthday, Erica!

Last week we celebrated Erica's birthday at work. Her request for a birthday cake was 'Dirt Cake'. So, Dirt Cake is what she got. I had never made Dirt Cake before. Its pretty darn easy.

Dirt Cake
from All Recipes
1/2 cup butter, softened
1 (8 ounce) package cream cheese, softened
1/2 cup confectioners' sugar
2 (3.5 ounce) packages instant vanilla pudding mix
3 1/2 cups milk
1 (12 ounce) container frozen whipped topping, thawed
32 ounces chocolate sandwich cookies with creme filling
Gummy worms

Chop cookies very fine in food processor. The white cream will disappear.
Mix butter, cream cheese, and sugar in bowl.
In a large bowl mix milk, pudding and whipped topping together.
Combine pudding mixture and cream mixture together.
Layer in flower pot, starting with cookies then cream mixture. Repeat layers.


Chill until ready to serve.
Add Gummy worms, artificial flower and trowel. Enjoy!
This was a huge hit at work and at home. I am sure it will be made again. Maybe I'll save it to make with my niece when she comes to visit.

Eric Is A College Grad!!!!

This past weekend started what I am calling "The Month of Eric".... a graduation and a wedding all within about 2 weeks. Eric (Ryan's little brother) graduated from Dartmouth College this weekend. We all made the trip to New Hampshire for a whirlwind weekend of events. I won't go through all the details. Instead, here are some highlights.

Steph and I drove the carts while Kevin and Ryan played 9 holes at the Lake Morey Country Club.






The flowers were amazing everywhere we went. Just beautiful.





As always, we tried the local beer. This one is the Long Trail Ale. We also liked the Magic Hat Summer Whacko.
From the top of the tower on Gile Mountain for a 360 degree view of the mountains. The view is quite possibly the best definition of the word 'AWESOME'.

Eric's last concert on campus.
And, the reason for the whole trip. Graduation was Sunday morning. It was outside... a rain or shine event. And, in true New Hampshire fashion, it was raining. As an added bonus we got to see the great Bill Russell receive an Honorary Degree from Dartmouth.

And the weather cleared up right as the ceremony ended. Made for nice pictures at least! Eric, the baby of the family is all grown up, a college graduate, about to get married and join the work force...
Of course... "all grown up" is more likely used in a figurative manner here... he's still a big kid and I think he always will be. Nothing wrong with that!
Congrats Eric! It's been awesome to be even a small part of this adventure through high school and college with you!

Welcome Home Admiral!

Admiral made his first trip out to the house since the house got walls. We let him off the leash and he did some exploring. He definitely likes going up the stairs and seems to have mastered the art of going UP but is still pretty awkward going DOWN.

Exterior Photos

I just realized I never posted these "finished" exterior pictures. Okay, so it's not finished yet. The metal roof over the porch will be installed after the painters stain all the cedar and paint the fascia. We are also still waiting on the shutters to be installed. But for the most part... this is it. I still can't get a good picture of the whole front of the house due to the trees, port-a-potty and dumpster. But, I think these are better than anything I've previously posted.

More Trim Work

Here are a few more pictures of the cabinets that are currently being built. I haven't been to the house since last weekend but Ryan's been taking lots of pictures. It is really coming together.

This is the hutch that is being built into the breakfast room. The backing and the doors will have a bead board look.


The master bathroom vanities. My big request here was lots of drawers. I'm pretty happy about this. And, I also have a "drawer plug" installed so that I can leave my hair dryer plugged in but still put it away. VERY EXCITED about this feature.

Closet and vanity for the downstairs bedroom/bathroom.

Cabinet Progress

The first picture is of the wine racks in the wine room. Looks great! I've got a lot of wine buying to do!

The second and third pictures show the base to the Island.

Have I told you how much I love Ryan's Blackberry (because he can send me pictures while he's at the house) and that Blogger has this email posting function? Well, I love both. And, of course I love Ryan for keeping me updated while I sit in my cubicle.