Thursday, October 29, 2015

Halloween Cupcake Tradition

Every year for as long as I can remember it has been a tradition that my Dad and I make cupcakes together for Halloween to share with my friends and co-workers. Just a few weeks ago he sent me the perfect card reminding me of our tradition via my favorite—snail mail! Isn’t it cute!



This year I saw my parents the weekend before Halloween which was too early to make cupcakes. Instead, I packed all of the sprinkles, toppings, paper cups, frosting, and cake mix to bring back to Charlotte. It was finally time to make the cupcakes. I whipped up the batter, lined the cupcake tray with the cute paper cups, and put everything in the oven— 1/2 of the job was soon to be done. 15 mins later (which was less than the box said) the kitchen smelt of freshly baked cupcakes and I took them out of the oven only to find that the bottoms were COMPLETELY burnt-- and I chuckled inside.


I think that my oven may have been too hot, but I will never know. What I do know is this is proof that you shouldn’t change a tradition— and that I am definitely not perfect! 

I will never forget the year I broke the tradition and burnt the cupcakes! Next year I look forward to continuing the tradition with my dad of baking and decorating Halloween cupcakes!!

Some of my previous creations:


xx
ETB


Wednesday, October 28, 2015

September 2015

whew! this is a little long but HOW could it not be long... I am covering 30 days in a catch-up post. Enjoy!

First stop—DALLAS 8/31-9/1— for a short two day work trip. The hotel where we stayed was super nice and served these cool waffles in the morning. While in Dallas, we drove past the Cowboys stadium, which was neat, and we also ate at In-N-Out burger. This was my first time and I loved how the menu is just a few items, it makes ordering easy & the food was delicious too!
Labor Day 2015 Jack and I traveled to Oak Island with our friends Ben, Christina, Brooke, and Zac. We stayed in a tiny house that was just a few steps away from the ocean. The weather our first beach day was great. We played bocce ball, Christina’s parents came up to visit us, we met a dog wearing doggles, and we went to dinner at Frying Pan in Southport for dinner. Our second day was a little drearier, but we still made it out to the beach and had an afternoon dance party at the house. That evening, we decided to stay on the island. We played putt-putt and tried to have dinner at an oyster bar, which turned into a disaster mixed with monsoon rain. Needless to say, we ended up back at the house and made frozen pizza & pasta. On Monday before we left, we headed to Southport one last time for some seafood at Provision Company.


9/11-9/13 I headed up the mountain to Seven Devils, NC to spend the weekend with my Life Group. We stayed in a huge cabin and in the basement there were enough beds for us all to stay in one room. The first night was when the launch of the iPhone6S went live, and we stayed up until at least 3:30 in the morning talking & so one of the girls could place her order. In the morning we went on a hike to see a waterfall and the leaves were just beginning to change colors. We also stopped over at the original Mast General Store where I scored a new Columbia coat @ 50% off!!-- you know your girl LOVES a good deal In the afternoon we went to Grandfather Vineyard and Winery. My favorite wine was the red Grandfather blend. Sunday morning I headed to Raleigh to hang out with my parents since I had an eye doctor’s appointment on Monday.

While driving to Raleigh, I received a call from Jack that Enzo had gone to doggie heaven. I will never forget the call because I was driving past the exit where Jack and I met his parents when we first went to go pick up little Enzo. Enzo was such a loving dog and I miss him very much, especially around Halloween. Enzo loved to celebrate Halloween just like I did. You might remember this post on his Halloween costumes. RIP Enzo, I love you!
On 9/19 my committee for Junior League hosted our Family Health Link event, where we provide pre-K and Kindergarten children with physicals, dental check-ups, vision screenings, and hearing screenings, which are all required for these students to continue in school. We served over 100 kids that day and although the day was long & the hours were tough, I was humbled by serving so many in our community. That evening Jack and I celebrated the engagement of our friends, Andy & Kayla, at their Stock the Bar party. 
My parents celebrated their 30th wedding anniversary on 9/21 and 9/26 Jack celebrated his Golden Birthday, 26 on the 26th!! Although it was yet again a dreary, rainy day we made the most of it. For lunch we celebrated with Ben and Christina at The Porchfollowed by a visit to Raylen Vineyards. For dinner we went to a new restaurant in Winston, Quanto Basta Italian Eatery & Wine Bar, with Jack’s family. Everything we ate was amazing and I hope that we go back soon **hint hint**. Sunday, per Jack’s request, we had a cookout and cheered on the Panthers in their victory over the Saints. Since the theme was all things panthers, I got Jack a new Panthers polo and made him personalized "you pick the game" Panther's tickets. Also, check out the awesome cake that Jack’s mom custom ordered from Lorene's Bakery!!

A few other fun things in September: 
-Jack, Amanda, Canaan and I went to Scarowinds on the first night it opened.
-Amanda revealed to our friends that she’s pregnant and due in March 2016!!
-One of my dearest friends, Lyndsey and her husband, moved back to the States from Puerto Rico.
-A picture of Jack's family from Eve & Gray's wedding was in the 2015 Triad Weddings Fall/Winter Magazine.
-Brooke, Lyndsey, Amanda, Sarah Jo, and I met for lunch one afternoon, which was so nice because almost everyone else lives in a different city/state.
- I worked out a lot and have kept up eating healthy, for the majority of the time.
- Not so fun first—I got rear ended on 9/22, thankfully I was not hurt, and now my car is all fixed up!

xx
ETB

Tuesday, October 27, 2015

Blogiversary



I cannot believe it! It has been one year today since I started blogging, and boy does time go by fast. It just so happens that this celebration coinecides with ONE BIG purchase... a new MACBOOK- i'm doing a little happy dance :)



Now you know the missing piece of the puzzle-- I have been computer-less for a while and hence no posting for eh 68 days. 

I have learned so much over this past year from writing code, taking "blogworthy" pictures, meeting other bloggers, and just enjoying this little creative outlet.

I will soon update y'all on what has been happening in my life over the past two months (insert emoji covering its eyes)!

xx

ETB