The camera's out of the bag

This is what I baked yesterday. I had too many ripe bananas and I wanted to try something other than banana bread. It turned out delicious. The recipe calls for cake flour, but I didn't have any. I ended up using twice-sifted all-purpose flour (those non-deviating bakers might panic!). It actually turned out lovely. The layers are not tall (same goes for the original recipe also) and it's deliciously moist. If you mash the bananas immensely, you won't have any lumps (unless you want them!). It had a slight resemblance to banana bread. But, it also had it's own character and was very much cake-like.

I wasn't sure which frosting would be best. I finally decided to try the cream cheese frosting recipe that horror_romance had given me from the bread & honey food blog (thank you!). Although, it called for 2 cups confectioners sugar and I only had 1 3/4 cups. So, I decided that the banana/chocolate route would be tasty and I sifted 1/4 cup cocoa powder to substitute the missing confectioners sugar. It turned out great. Very similar to a chocolate cheesecake flavor. And, the texture was fluffy and delicious! Much better than the last cream cheese frosting I tried (delicious, but very runny!).



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I love everything about this house. And, not just the things we have done that make it our own. There are small additions that seem to fit our little family perfectly. Textured ceilings, a back deck with stairs, the left hummingbird feeder, a myriad of cabinet space, Lazy Susans, a receding counter, a screen door, lots of windows, trim accents, the garden, the mountains, the quiet neighborhood . . .

I'm just so excited.. I'm optimistic.



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Hello! It has been far too long since I have updated! Life has been crazy busy and there has been plenty to do. We have moved to a new city and just bought our home. Everything is wonderful and crazy and... a lot! And, for now, to document all the goodness, without creating a too lengthy novel..





-Painting every room together
-IKEA trips for new things
-A new giant bookshelf
-Inside plants
-Dunkin Donuts drive-through
-Tall trees
-Being apart of neighborhood watch
-Planning for any transferring and additional planting of bushes, trees and flowers
-Wayne scotting
-Lots of extra room
-Taking walks through our new neighborhood
-Bay windows (including the project of chiseling, sanding, puttying and painting the seat and frame, all my own)
-Things finally starting to slow down and settle

Hello, hello! So, I just wanted to mention (again, but you may have missed it!), I promise I'm not hiding my face. I don't feel I have any terrifying facial attributes that would lead me to never show it. I am not bashful. I simply don't find it very artistic, interesting, challenging or my style to post constant, frontal facial shots. There's no secret behind it! It's as simple as that. So, if you want to know what I look like to the exacts, refer to the previous entry and that will be that. This is just a mention, not an offense, because I keep getting the same question over and over. I just wanted to mention it to clear it up all at once! And, thanks to everyone again for such kind words! You all made my cheeks blush! X's and O's all around!

Love,
Me and my face (well, here's half of it anyway!)

Okay, amazingly, my likes today are more abundant than my dislikes. Ha!
Also, some self portraits from a self-given project I was working on. And, come visit me, so I can take photographs of your beautiful faces!

Likes:
Yellow stripes.
Dressing up.
Or, throwing on just a T-shirt and jeans.
Snuggling.
Moving (we're moving).
Painting with Sean (there's something bonding about splashing paint on your clothes and laughing while you're both exhausted and sweating. Hehe).
Dried flowers.
Walking trails.
Open windows.

Dislikes:
Packing (it's only exciting until you can't figure how to fit everything into boxes!).
When I spill milk in the refrigerator (haha What?!).
When people think recycling is stupid (Uhh, yeah. Haha What?!).
Sore muscles.
Time/schedules.

Today is simply the prettiest day it has been for months. The high is in the upper seventies. But, there is also this heavy wind that constantly blows. We have already walked around the neighborhood once. But, I definitely have plans to go out again this evening!

These are a couple photos from a trip to the city a little ways back. It had rained and this large leaf had left a wet outline. I suppose it must have blown away right after.
And my boys..

Life's been busy lately! I haven't had the chance to update. Everything is spinning, spinning! All regular and good things. How is everyone?

And oh cherries. . .






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My son is so terribly wonderful. Thankfully, he has fully taken after me with how I like things to be nice and tidy (thank goodness my dear husband is just as organized!). He has removed every single thing from his art table (which is massive piles. Not by choice, but by lack of room and largeness of yearn for constant artistic flow!), asked for wet paper towels and wiped the whole thing down. He threw away any small particles and wanted to hand-vacuum it as well. Then everything was placed, nice and neat, back on the table and is gloriously organized, shiny and clean with TLC!

Ahh, you are mine . . .

-Reading on the back porch.
-Having to wear a sweater in the morning. And, definitely at night.
-Going through things (sorting, Goodwill, etc) with Sean. It's much more fun that way!
-Peach sun tea.
-Walks in the evening.

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-More fruits and veggies than I know what to do with
-Going to the movies
-Baking deep, dark fudge brownies from scratch, at the last minute
-Snagging the last 600 thread count, originally $69.99 sheets, on clearance for $14.
-Neither of us working for three days straight
-French press mornings
-My little guy making me a bead necklace, all his own
-Wii Sports

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Thanks to everyone's well-wishes for my evening out with my friend Alex. I had a great time. We met up at Classic Electric, where my brother in law works. Alex and her roommate (Nicole) got some pretty little tattoos. By the time they were done (aside from our veggie snack. Ha!), we were starved. We headed across the street to Old Town Tavern for some amazing veggie burgers. We ordered a pitcher of beer and waited for Jason and Ashley to arrive. We all ate, drank and caught up. It was a nice time. Then we went to a creepy store across the street (if you're a local, you know what I'm talking about). Ha!



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Oh, it is terribly beautiful outside! Eleven in the morning and still barely seventy degrees out. It's leaving me a bit excited in remembrance of better weather! It's still going to be warm later. But, I am enjoying this now. I woke up with a breeze blowing on my face and the sheets feeling crispier than ever.

Is anyone else enjoying this less than hot weather?

I made this cake the other evening. It's my first chocolate cake. And, may I just say, this is the best chocolate cake I've ever had. It had the fluff and delicious flavor of a boxed cake. Yet it was more moist and tastier! I would highly recommend this recipe.

The frosting was pretty good. I've never found a homemade cream cheese icing that was light and fluffy, similar to the store bought kind. It was a bit thick and drippy. But, once I got is spread on, I place the entire cake in the refrigerator. It ended up being a nice, cold dessert! But, wanting to learn and try other things, if anyone has a cream cheese frosting recipe that is more airy, please let me know!

Note: I used two nine-inch, round baking pans. The icing was also the perfect amount for such a cake.




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The parcel arrived safely to Ms. Blair! I had taken these photos ahead of time to show you all the contents. But, she took the loveliest photo of all.

My son always likes to send a little something along for her son. Last time it was a drawing. Well, in trying to make his decision this time, he saw my paints and that pretty much decided for him. So, I gave him some decorative paper and squirted paints in a makeshift pallet (a plastic container that held votive candles and the bottom had perfect little circles). So the story goes, where paint met paper. And, in an excited and hurried action, a cars masterpiece was created! And, of course, a package of bubble gum to keep it company!



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I have plans to see a long-distance friend, who I have not seen in a long while. It's making the morning seemingly go by slowly. I need to keep busy to ease my excitement. I have a whole day planned. I've done all there is to do at the start of the day and now I just wait until it's time to go . . .






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The Summer has been good to us, despite it's hot, hot heat. This time of year is supposed to be for being outside and enjoying the sunshine. Although, it is becoming terribly hard to do too much of that, when it's just so hot. But, we've made sure to still spend time at the park, walking through trails, the woods and country.





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Today has been most productive: A trip to drop off things to Goodwill, a stop at the post office, a trip to the grocery, a stop for gas and then more events this evening to follow. The social kind, not so much of the errand kind!

There has been construction going on all over town lately. You never quite know what is going to be built (unless of course it's a bank, in which case there are signs all over the place. Blah). Well, a Rita's Italian Ice has finally been finished and I am anxious to eat some of that custard up!

On an ending note, soon someone very dear to me will be receiving a parcel in the mail! I can not reveal it's contents just yet. Shh.. It's a secret..



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Tagged by Heidi

-Big homemade dinners with an old friend.
-Long walks in the woods.
-A visit from my long-time friend, possibly moving back from Connecticut! And our trip to the firehouse, with all the the kids to play in the fire trucks and eat fireman's ice cream.
-New sandals.
-A friend from work inviting our family to share her birthday dinner out with her family and friends (pomegranate martinis!).
-A little one crawling into our bed at midnight, just to snuggle.

And, only if you feel so inclined, I tag:

elsexwhere, owlacrobat, rebelwings, reveparisien

These cookies were so much fun to make! I chose to do a spiral, which came out so very well. I'm going to have to start sending Sean to work with treats more often. I've been on a real baking roll! Hehe





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Recently, we were shopping at the outlets. We went to get some Vans for the boys and look around some. I saw a big semi-annual sale going on at Bath & Body Works. I thought I'd just peek and see what they had. It turned out that it was mostly seventy-five percent off! The girly in me came right out and I ended up with about seventy dollars worth of stuff for less than twenty. Anyway, the bottles were so pretty and pampering that I wanted to take a photo or two!





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