Vanilla Ice Ice(ing) Baby



Yesterday I baked vanilla cupcakes with the two little chickens I nanny for. I found this recipe on Pinterest and we went to town. They were delicious (even though we didn't have any unsalted butter [so we just left out the salt] and only had one cup of cake flour [so we added regular flour to the mix]). The icing is just a combo of butter, powdered sugar, and milk until I got the consistency I was going for.




wonderfully sprinkled by said chickens


xxo



In My Own Backyard



This past weekend I went to Tahoe with my mom and little brother to get out of the Sacramento heat and to visit my aunt and uncle who have a cabin there. It was beautiful. The drive there, the lake, a fun sunset hike my brother took us on...And it's less than two hours away (sans traffic, that is). I should really do this more often.




"Welcome to Kyburz
Now leaving Kyburz"

Little brother getting artsy







Lizard friend we made along the way up to Cave Rock






I can't even imagine owning one of these homes and witnessing such beautiful sunsets each night


When little brother almost gave mom a heart attack by going so far down the cliff 

The clouds were just amazing 



The only time I'm "taller" than him




My friend Jenny recommended this cafe called Sprouts. And although the food was amazing, the customer service from two of the young girls working behind the counter was horrible. It was somewhat disappointing, but the cold turkey and veggie sandwiches were delicious. We also stopped by a little coffee & smoothie shop I found in the area a couple years ago. It's called Free Bird and it's this tiny little shed that was converted into a coffee shop. Great people that work there, and even better drinks!






xxo


I am an Endangered Species

The first time I heard Dianne Reeve's "Endangered Species" I was an underclassman in high school. It was at a dance competition, performed by a soloist from Lincoln High School. The dancer was tiny, maybe 5'2", she had long and curly red hair, and personality that far exceeded every limb and movement she did.

Looking back on that experience, I think it was the first time I really felt connected to feminism; the song and movement combined stirred something inside of me and showed up as goosebumps all over my body.

As the years passed I forgot about the song completely, until about a week ago when I heard the song used on the current season of So You Think You Can Dance.


From the first note I recognized the song, and it sparked something in me again. Chills...

I am a woman
I am an artist
I know where my voice belongs

xxo
 
 

Easy Weeknight Meal



In the past four years or so I have gotten into exploring cooking dinners and dishes outside of my usual comfort zone and routine (read: pastries and sweets). This recipe I got from Real Simple magazine (which obviously I have a subscription to because of the awesome recipes like this).





Pro Tip: Don't forget to turn off the oven after you take the baking sheet out so that you don't continue to heat the whole house and run up your energy bill (read: I may have experience with this outcome...on several different occasions)

YUM
xxo