Friday, June 28, 2013

#87 DZPII: Take Ryan to the Beach

When asked what I wanted to do for my birthday, I came to a great decision: at least I thought so!

Take Ryan to the Beach for the First Time!!
 
 
I knew he'd love the beach, I was just a little worried about his reaction to the water: too cold, maybe knocking him down, a little scary... but he did great! Instantly loved the beach!
 
I packed up his play tent, several towels, beach chairs, kites, buckets, toys, shovels, sunscreen, water, hats, sunglasses... the whole nine-yards!
 
He wanted to go in the water, but then stopped right where the last tide would wash up, then he'd run back up to our chairs, then run down to the water, but stop and cry "No agua!" so we started to walk back up to the chairs, then "AGAIN!", so we walked back to the water..."No water!", then "Again water!"... that was about an hour of that... but he was tired and it was nap time... So poor Auntie Annette and I took turns going back and forth with Ryan.
 
 
Then his Auntie Alex & Uncle David came out and he took them down to see the ocean, and was happy as a clam! Ryan got to fly his kite, make sand castles (errr, or knock down Uncle David's sand castles), and he even dived face first in the sea! I know there are more beach trips in our future!
 

#68 DZPII: Try 10 new drinks at Starbucks

Okay, here they are kids:

1. Vanilla Latte
2. Vanilla Spice Frappuccino® Blended Beverage
3. Cool Lime Starbucks Refreshers™ Beverage
4. Cinnamon Dolce Latte
5. Coffee Frappuccino® Blended Beverage - Light
6. White Chocolate Mocha
7. Caramel Brulée Latte - Skinny
8. Hazelnut Macchiato
9. Caramel Ribbon Crunch Frappuccino® Blended Beverage
10. Valencia Orange Starbucks Refreshers™ Beverage

 
Thanks again Starbucks! Love you!

#92 DZPII: Run/Walk/Skip/Dance/Jump (another) Color Run

Round TWO for the Color Run & this time it was in IRVINE, CA!
 
It truly is the happiest 5K ever ~ I had such a blast!
Picture time!
 
From left to right - Bottom Row: Alex, Madalyn, & AlexJ
Top Row: myself, Shanna, Erin, Jessie, & David

The After photo - no Before photo needed
Throwing the color packets in the air! Amazing colors!
 (Thank you MMDub for the awesome pictures!!)

#72 DZPII: Bake & decorate a two tiered cake

For my good friend Shanna's little girl Abigal's 3rd birthday, her theme was "Watermelons!"
 
So I offered to make her birthday cake and it was definately a watermelon - pink cake with watermelon flavoring (complete with mini chocolate chips in the cake to look like "seeds") and the two-toned green watermelon rind!
 
 
I don't have a picture of it cut opened, but trust that it's very pink and very watermelon!

#51 DZPII: Have one of the "A Day at the Spa" Burke Williams packages



I've had a membership to Burke Williams for a while now, and I enjoy it, but I always wanted to try their "day at the spa" packages. So for my first time, I chose "The Spa Experience" pacakge:

 
 

#49 DZPII: Buy a little black dress & work it!

 
 
Not my best picture but the elevator door opened and we all rushed into it!
 
For my dear friend Alex's bachelorette celebration in Las Vegas, the girls and I were asked to bust out our little black dresses... needless to say I didn't have one, and it was a great excuse to go buy one!
 
Summertime doesn't give me much options for all black dresses... but I did end up finding this strapless from New York and Company.
 
 
It's an eyelet strapless with POCKETS! Big time score with the pockets!
 
But I must be too fat for it... the zipper broke on me several times and so after our dinner I was walking back to the room with a broken zipper - back showing, bra strap showing, and I held the dress up so my undies didn't show *sigh*
 
I know what you're thinking... return it! But unfortunately there was a tag that was not to be taken off, otherwise I could have. But the tag was torn off as soon as I got in it.
 

#37 DZPII: Go to the farmer's market

I love a good farmers market, I mean who doesn't?! You get to meet local produce farmers, specialty jewelry makers, artist, even food trucks! The one near the house is on Saturday mornings, but really isn't the biggest turn out.

I love the Sunset Beach farmers market! Absolutely adore it! I've missed it ever since I moved from the area. But this last weekend I took a drive and went out to visit. I bought only strawberries & candy apples, but saw a bunch of produce, jewelry, art, kitchen towels, hand painted signs, honey, hummus, beauty products, and other home goodies. Lunch was hawaiian teriyaki and dessert was shaved ice! Ryan had a lot of fun!



Thursday, April 4, 2013

#72 DZPII: Bake & decorate a two tiered cake

#72 DZP II: Bake & Decorate a Two-Tiered Cake!
 
 
So for the advance cake decorating class Mom and I are taking, the second class is on two-tiered cakes. The class before was on color flow technique (see puppy above), so we were asked to apply the color flow technique to a two-tiered cake. So I went on google pictures and found this cutie and created a Puppy-Dawg Cake!
 
 
Complete with fondant dog house and bowl. Around the rest of the cake is dog bones, paw prints, dog bowl, and another puppy hiding in the grass.
 
It's a 6 inch cake stacked on a 10 inch cake. We learned how to stack and use/cut dowels for construction.



#76 DZPII: Buy a new refridgerator

 
That's right! We finally bought one!
I was seriously in need of a fridge space, especially with my baking two-tiered cakes (post to come!!) and all, but just the extra room for drinks is so nice!
We got this beauty from a Sears Outlet center, and I'm happy to say, I'm ok with the two tiny scratches it has... I covered them with pictures and magnets anyways!
 
And yes, that's my In & Out drink in there!
 

Monday, March 11, 2013

#83 DZPII: Plant a Rose Garden

#83 DZP II: Plant a Rose Garden
 
 
A while ago, Alex & Ryan decided to take out all the old shrubs & flowers from this side planter. So it was dirt for a while there. Until yesterday (Sunday) when Alex & I thought to go get roses to put in the planter. It was his "brilliant" idea, but little did he know that roses were on the DZP list!

 
Ryan helped of course with his little plastic shovel and bucket and was shoveling dirt around, having a great time!
 
He even got to help at Home Depot with picking the flowers... but he was more concerned about the little planter pots with the tropical birds. It was a great Sunday!


Monday, March 4, 2013

#53 DZPII: Bring a bagged lunch to work for one week

#53 DZPII: Bring a bagged lunch to work for one week
 

Basically it's going to look like this all week.
And it looked like that the week before.
And the week before that. 
 
I've been trying to eat healthier and work toward my #43 Goal: Reach My Goal Weight. So I've turned to bringing in my lunch in my cute teal wrap lunch bag. Usually has my midmorning snack (grapefruit), my lunch (a salad and apple), my midafternoon snack (protein shake or veg/hummus), and then I'm all set to go home and have my lean & green dinner! 

So I'm starting my 3rd week of bringing my day meals to work. It's been tough, and I've broken down (stole some french fries from my coworker), but I've been trying to stay strong.

Wednesday, February 20, 2013

End of the Day Zero Project I

Damn! I was only two shy of completing my first list!

47. Complete a coloring book - I guess I will NEVER complete a coloring book in my life. Oh well. I'm over it.

54. Go to the Aquarium of the Pacific* - We never got the whole family to go, and it's been cold here and there, so maybe later on when spring comes, we'll go.

 
But it's over, and now I can turn my full attention over to DZPII!

Monday, February 4, 2013

#74 DZPII: Take Cake Decorating Classes

#74 DZPII: Take Cake Decorating Classes
 
So for Christmas my Mom got us night classes at a nearby bakery for cake decorating classes - beginners classes! I was beyond excited because I've really wanted to go to the Micheals/Wilton classes, but the times were never good for my schedule.
 
But for four weeks, every Monday night, Mom and I would head over at 7pm and play with piping bags, star tips, buttercream icings, and of course... cake! It was a blast! So much fun - and my coworkers loved my creations I'd bring in the next day for them to eat!
 
  
 
Our (dummy) cakes the first class: learning about the different kinds of piping tips and how to ice the cake. The very beginning to cake decorating....
 
On the second class we had to bring two 8" round cakes in the pans, and icing for them, in whatever colors we wanted. Mom wanted to work on her buttercream roses, but it was unfortunatly too warm, so a couple of them drooped... I waited till the end to do my roses, but ran out of time: took so long on my scalloped border around the cake! So no roses on that cake!
 
 
The third was learning how to create a cupcake bouquet! These are fun and fast! Just takes 19 cupcakes to make a flower bouquet or a special scene for your celebration! I worked on a Cars themed bouquet (for Ryan's 2nd birthday coming up), and Mom worked on flowers!
 
 

The last class was on character cakes. I've had my Hello Kitty cake pan for several years, and never baked from it because I didn't know how to decorate her! And Mom was inspired by Ryan's 2nd birthday theme: Cars!

#64 DZPII: Make Homemade Pretzels

#64 DZPII: Make Homemade Pretzels
 
My first job out of high school was at the mall... so needless to say I love me some mall food. And good old Auntie Anne's is always there and a pretzel was waiting for me... with a side of cheese sauce! I've missed Anne's since I left the mall, but everytime I felt the need to "physically shop" (instead of my prowlings on the internet) I head to the mall... and the pretzels are still there.
 
 
But I've always thought I'd venture out of the comfort-zone of cupcakes and cookies, and bake something else... something bread-like... something like PRETZELS!
 
 
Recipe adapted from Daily Savings
 
Ingredients:
-1 teaspoon sugar
-1 package (2 1/4 tsp.) active dry yeast
-1/2 teaspoon salt
-1 1/2 cups whole-wheat flour
-3/4 cup all-purpose flour
-1/4 cup baking soda
-1/4 cup coarse salt

Directions:
1. Stir 1 cup warm water (105°F to 110°F), yeast, sugar and salt in an electric mixer fitted with a dough hook. Set aside until yeast has dissolved and mixture bubbles, about 5 minutes. Stir in both flours, set mixer speed to medium and knead with dough hook until dough is smooth and elastic, about 10 minutes. (Or, mix with a wooden spoon and knead by hand.) Transfer dough to an oiled bowl, cover with a clean kitchen towel and set aside in a warm, draft-free spot until doubled in size, about 1 hour.

2. Preheat oven to 425°F. Oil 2 large baking sheets. Stir baking soda and 2 cups warm water in a bowl until dissolved.

3. Turn dough out onto a floured work surface; cut into 20 equal-size balls. Working with 1 at a time, roll and stretch each ball to form thin, 12- to 15-inch-long ropes. Twist each into a pretzel shape.

4. Use a slotted spoon to dip each pretzel into baking soda solution; place on a baking sheet. Reshape as needed. Sprinkle with coarse salt. Bake until browned, about 10 minutes. Remove sheets to a wire rack to cool for 10 minutes; transfer pretzels to rack to cool further.

Monday, January 28, 2013

Noah's Elephant Cake

Noah's 1st Birthday Elephant Cake!
 
 
So during my cake classes, I've been a maniac posting my cakes/cupcakes on all the social medias. I even posted a status update asking if anyone wanted a cake because I wanted more practice... and couldn't keep taking them to work hahaha.... So an old high school friend contacted me and asked if I wanted to do a cake for her son's first birthday! (simply for practice of course *wink*) So I accepted and took off on Wilton.com to look for ideas. 
 
Noah's theme was 'Elegant Elephants' so I found this elephant cake which used the teddy-bear pan. I've never done a "character" cake before, but what a great time to try! I read up on the "how-to" and I figured I could do it! 
 
Because I needed roll-out/sugar cookies for the ears and trunk of the elephant, I also cut out his name and used the color flow technique, which I also never done, but really wanted to do!
 
It was a lot of fun and good practice putting the cake together and it was even better that I got to catch up with an old friend and her little one!
 

 

Monday, January 21, 2013

#99 DZP: Identify 100 things that make me happy

This took me a long time, but I finished it....
 
1. Ryan (enough said but I’ll continue)
2. Ultrasound pictures of Ryan
3. Ryan's giggle & laughter
4. My Baby blanket
5. My Baby Peanut charm
6. Ryan's bath time
7. Ryan giving kisses and hugs to me
8. Walks to the park with Ryan
9. Ryan's baby smell
10. Clothes shopping for Ryan
11. My Parents
12. My Girlfriends – my sisters from other misters
13. Audrey Hepburn
14. My Kitties: Tilly & Chibi (RIP Chibi)
15. Ginger Puppy (RIP Ging)
16. Colorguard
17. My Maneki Neko (Japanese Lucky Cat) Collection
18. Hello Kitty
19. Photo albums
20. (Completed) Scrapbooks
21.  Yearly camping trip with family and friends
22. Kisses and hugs for no reason
23. Teddy Pendagrass' "In My Time" song
24. Beyonce's "Love On Top" song
25. Maroon 5's "Moves Like Jagger" song
26. Mom's Chicken Noodle Soup
27. My Aunt Judy's Beef Stroganoff
28. Dad’s Golly-Whoppers
29. Grandma's Macaroni Salad
30. Alex grilling me a steak
31. Eggs and Rice Meal
32. Baking
33. French Vanilla Ice Cream
34. Hot chocolate when it rains
35. Smell of chocolate chip cookies in my kitchen
36. Scotchmallows from See's Candy
37. Mochi at New Years
38. Sunday morning waffles (or anytime!)
39. Root beer ice cream floats
40. Homemade fresh tortillas
41. Spaghetti meals
42. "How I Met Your Mother"
43. Cheesecake
44. Cake pops
45. Starbucks Mocha Fraps
46. Stella Rose
47. Barefoot Bubbly champagne
48. Going to the Japanese grocery store
49. Steel Magnolias the movie
50. Sex & the City Series
51. Harry Potter (books & movies)
52. The Twilight Saga
53. Hunger Games Trilogy
54. Fifty Shades Trilogy
55. Lauren Conrad’s LA Candy books
56. Food Network channel
57. “New Girl”
58. "Iron Chef America"
59. Any "Bones" Episode
60. Tiffany's Blue Boxes (hopefully with something shiny in them)
61. Juicy Couture Charms (for my collection)
62. My purse collection
63.  My iPhone
64. New car smell
65. Fresh flowers
66. Orchids
67. My KitchenAid Red Mixer "Big Red"
68. Dolphins & other marine life
69. Surprise birthday parties (for anyone or myself)
70. Boat rides
71. Sand between my toes
72. Sleeping in the middle of the day
73. Playing Yahtzee (and hopefully winning)
74. Backyard BBQs
75. Massages at Burke Williams
76. "Good Morning" texts
77.  Fireworks
78. Poolside fun
79. Bubble baths
80. Falling asleep in the car (comfortably)
81. Fresh mani/pedi nails
82. Salon haircuts
83. Head massages
84. Hotel suite rooms
85. Tropical breezes
86. Helmet dives
87. Shipping boxes outside my front door
88. A clean house
89. Swinging in a hammock
90. Jamba Juice
91. Completing a DZP goal
92. “I want a hippopotamus for Christmas” song
93. Tamales
94. Mimi’s muffins
95. Completed craft projects
96. Yorkie puppies
97. Farmer’s Markets
98. Disneyland
99. Calla Lilies
100. Alejandro (he really does make me happy lol)