Cupcakes and a new dress

A brand new pretty dress came in the mail yesterday and I fell in love with it so much that I felt like I had to go a little June Cleaver-y and bake something beautiful and delicious while wearing it (with an adorable apron, of course).  The best part about the dress, besides the color and the perfect fit?  It was free!  I entered maybe my second ever online blog giveaway on Kris' beautiful blog Young Married Chic and lo and behold, I won!  The dress is from Shabby Apple and I still can't believe how perfectly it fits.  I am so in love.  Thanks, Kris!

(I'll add pictures later.  Neither my cat or my puppy are very good photographers, so I'll have to wait until I have a human to aid me in this endeavor.)

My excitement about the dress, however, was overshadowed by the fact that my boss is out for a few days because she is had a masectomy yesterday morning.  She'd been cancer free for 7 years, but earlier this summer her doctors had cause for concern, so after a few tests and conferences with her doctors and family she decided to get rid of the offending breast.  She has been in remarkably amazing spirits through the entire thing and was ready to get it over with once and for all!  Even though she had been so calm and excited all week, I could definitely feel the emotions starting to well up when I told her goodbye on Wednesday and gave her a hug.  Fortunately the procedure went very well and she was home by 10:00 a.m.!  In honor of her and breast cancer survivors everywhere, I made pink lavender grapefruit cupcakes.  The last time I made a batch I gave some to her and she told me later that she had saved the last one until she could sit on her deck and eat it alone, and the lavender was so calming and soothing that she could just feel herself relax while eating it!  The recipe is from a 2006 article in the Lawrence Journal World.  Here it is:

Lavender Pink Grapefruit Cupcakes
Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

2 cups unbleached all-purpose flour
2 teaspoons lavender flowers (no stems)
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt

1/2 cup pink grapefruit juice
1/2 cup buttermilk

1/2 cup butter, softened
3/4 cup mild honey, preferably clover
2 large eggs

Sift together flour, baking soda, baking powder and salt. With the back of a spoon, crush lavender flowers and combine with flour mixture; mix well and set aside.

In a liquid measure, combine pink grapefruit juice and buttermilk; set aside.

In a mixing bowl, cream butter until fluffy; scraping sides of bowl, as necessary. Add honey; mix well. Add eggs, one at a time, scraping down sides of bowl after each addition.

 Add half of the reserved dry ingredients to the butter mixture; mix on low until just combined. With mixer running on low, slowly add the grapefruit mixture. Add remaining dry ingredients until just combined.

 Fill paper-lined muffin tins 2/3 full. Bake 18 to 22 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted in center of a muffin comes out clean. Remove to wire rack; cool. Frost with Pink Grapefruit Buttercream Frosting, if desired. Makes 12 to 14 cupcakes.

Pink grapefruit buttercream frosting
1/2 cup butter, softened
1/4 cup grapefruit juice
2 tablespoons mild honey, preferably clover
4 to 5 cups powdered sugar
2 to 3 drops red food coloring (optional)

In a mixing bowl, cream butter until light and fluffy. Add grapefruit juice and honey; mix well. Add powdered sugar, 1 cup at a time, until desired spreading consistency. For a darker pink color, add food coloring, if desired.
- AP recipe developed by Lisa Bishop, courtesy National Honey Board (<------- methinks I need to investigate this NHB...)

I love this recipe because a) I love lavender more than most things and b) there's no sugar in the cupcake recipe, in case you have friends who are weird like that and you want to make them a treat.  There is the slightest hint of citrus when you bite into one of these babies, making it just the tiniest bit tart, and the honey adds so much flavor you'll wonder why you even need sugar anywhere in your life.  (kidding!)  If you're not too sure about the flavor, wait a day or two and then try one again.  Like most good things, they get better with a little bit of time.

'Tis the Season

We have already been to 4 (!) weddings this year. The first one was in February when it was really cold outside, so I planned ahead and found the perfect dress by Suzy Chin way back in November. It was super comfortable and I thought it looked pretty good. I hope I have more opportunities to wear it when it cools down again!

. I wore it with some gold wedges I got off Zappos. They were really cute and mostly comfortable, but after I took them off I couldn't feel my toes for about 4 days, so I returned those suckers. Thanks for always being awesome, Zappos.

Wedding no. 2 was on a beautifully warm day in the beginning of April. I pulled out a little black dress I bought at a Gap outlet a year and a half ago but had yet to wear and put with it a pink cardigan from Urban Outfitters that I'm pretty sure I bought in 2003, and some Target heels. We danced all night long and rode home in a stretch Excursion. Talk about a par-tay.

Weddings 2 and 3 were both on the same rainy, misty, cloudy Saturday, but they were both beautiful and special and perfect for both couples getting married. There's nothing like seeing your friends be totally happy and in love on a special day just for them. To get ready, I asked David's sister-in-law if she wanted to go shopping at the Legends with me, a ridiculous outdoor mall-like place with tons of outlet stores and misbehaving children. It's a weird place. Gap Outlet was a bust, but the Banana Republic Outlet got me into a bit of trouble. Jenn found a really pretty wrap dress that I thought would work, but next to that was another pretty pink wrap dress, so I had to get both. I also picked up a straw and faux leather clutch that I think is adorbs. I tried both on for David when I got home and he agreed they both looked good, but a few days later we were talking about what all we had to do to make it to both weddings, and he asked me if I would wear the pink dress.


I wanted to wear the patterned one, but after I tried both on for my mom she agreed that the pink one was the better of the two.

I'll find more pictures to put up soon!

It's getting harder and harder to not shop, but I'm staying strong!  Spring is pretty difficult, because skirts and dresses are so appealing and I never feel like I really have the right dresses for every occasion.  This one ideal - classy, fun, knee length...but also $350.00.  Maybe someday.  

Real Simple

I think I could make something like this (read: I think my mom could sew me something like this.)  In addition to sewing new clothes, I've decided that trading for clothing is okay, too.  I'm drooling over this dress too, which I think would be a little harder to recreate, but a girl can dream!

Polli Says

Yesterday four other girls and I got together for a clothes swap.  I wish I'd taken a picture of the all the pieces that were up for grabs.  It was a pretty good pile!  We split everything into dresses, skirts, pants, tops, and accessories and went through one pile at a time.  I came away with 2 skirts, 2 dresses, and a new top.  I can't even remember what I took to contribute now (which just goes to show they were probably pieces I should have gotten rid of years ago) but I know that what I got rid of was easily three times what I took home, so I feel good about that.  I'm wearing one of the little dresses at work right now with leggings and my trusty dusty blue Minnetonka mocs and there's a good chance I'll be wearing this exact outfit at least once a week until it gets too hot to have even this much clothing on.  All in all, it was a really nice, restful weekend.