I have had cupcakes on the brain lately. This cupcake sampler is from a local place called Zink where I met my cousin for a girls night several weeks ago.

I think it may be time to get a cupcake fix very soon. Polka Dot Bake Shop may bet added to this weeks to do list.

Cupcakes have the incredible ability to make the dreariest day a little brighter.

So, on particularly stressful days in the office I like to treat a couple of the other ladies in the office with a mid-day pick me up. Unfortunately the closest cupcake shop is a good 20 minute drive from my office. Until now…

I was ecstatic to find a Blushing Bakeshop kiosk in a local mall (that is 2 minutes from my office) when I was just trying to kill some time on my lunch break. Genius! I would most certainly love of cupcake while out shopping any day. How about you?

A cupcake is a beautiful, delicious thing. Any day, good or bad or joyful or stressful, a cupcake can take you back to carefree days as a kid. I don’t always have time to make my own cupcakes, but I have not problem taking the time to enjoy one that someone else has made. Just a little cup of happiness to add some fun to my day.As a “grown up” I find that a cupcake brings a little fun to my day, it’s like taking a sick day when you aren’t sick, carefree and delicious.

I love my new house, I love my new house, I love my new house.

I love my new neighborhood, I love my new neighborhood, I love my new neighborhood.

I was so happy to get home from San Antonio, to see Brian and Pipe, and to finally get to enjoy my new house and new neighborhood.

I got home Thursday and it was such a long day. I had to get up at 4 Am to head to the airport (mainly because I am a big chicken and hate to take cabs on my own, so I got up to ride with some guys who had earlier flights). I got home in just enough time to take a shower and head to a meeting I had schedule. Ugh.

After being up so long I totally crashed on the couch for an afternoon nap. It is such a rare occurrence that I will take a nap, but it was so nice and refreshing. Although, after my nap I could not manage to peel myself off the couch to cook dinner.

Take out was on the menu for for B and me.

We had just got a Clipper magazine in the mail and decided to use a coupon ASAP. A place around the corner called The Deck made mention of a lobster roll in their add and I knew exactly what I wanted.

I got the lobster roll and B got the Neptune roll (which had shrimp, crab, and lobster). We both thought they were only okay, but a nice change from what we had each been eating while I was out of town.

We also ordered some coconut shrimp, which look a little too brown but tasted just right. Plus we each got a side salad. The White balsamic dressing on top is supposedly is a house specialty and tasted amazing. If you like tangy dressing you must give this a try!

Fridays breakfast was just a simply bowl of cereal. Koala Crisps and Whole Foods High Fiber cereal. You would think I would do something a little more interesting but my options were really limited. Our poor fridge was completely barren of all produce.

I was so desperate for something fresh that I stopped in at the grocery store for some grapes on my way into the office. Juicy!

The day was kind of blah. It was hard to head back to the office for the one day, especially because I was greeted by my other coworker being on vacation. Ack.

So I decided to treat myself and our part time person, who worked a full time week, to some bakery cupcakes. When I got to the bakery I had such a hard time deciding which ones to get! I ended up with chocolate, almond (my all time fave cake flavor), cookies and cream, and carrot.

I sampled pieces of each. The chocolate was a bit rich for me, but they were all delicious.

My afternoon snack was a piece of Great Harvest Pesto Asiago bread that I got when I went to pick up my order. I love being so close to a Great Harvest now!

While I was out I also did a mega grocery shopping trip and made stops at Costco, EarthFare, and Healthy Home Market. The evening had flown by by the time I got home and unloaded my car.

It was 9:30 in no time and I still hadn’t eaten dinner so I knew I had to keep things simple.

I dug right into my newly purchased produce along with a chipotle bean burger that was not so new. In fact, it was on the verge of freezer burnt. Oops! I ate my burger on top of an also newly purchased slice of Great Harvest rosemary garlic bread.

It is ridiculous how happy a house full of food can make me. Now lets see if I can make it last. I am hoping to hold off of heading to the store again until after July 4th. Who’s holding their breath? Not me!

*** Don’t forget to enter my Amazing Grass sample pack giveaway! ***

Hi all! I am having one of those busy days where I really find that I have nothing to say. Work has been good and no one has been getting on my nerves. Nice! And, as an added bonus, the weather is gorgeous today.

Breakfast was quick and easy. I just toasted up a slice of Great Harvest cinnamon chip bread and added a schmeer (or two) of real buttah with a smallish cup of milk. I know I usually eat my breakfast once I get to work, but today breakfast was consumed in the car because I could not resist the warm, toastiness of the bread. Yum!

That slice of bread and milk held me over for a surprisingly long time. I think it was about 2.5 hours. I had packed some fruit for breakfast but did not pull it out until I was ready for me snack.

I ate all of these veggies with about 1.5 tbsp of hummus/ranch mix plus the fruit, which is a mix of strawberries and 1/2 a nectarine. It seemed like so much food. I thought I had ruined my appetite for lunch, but it turns out that I just felt hungrier than I had before!

I had plans to use chicken leftover from dinner last night in a sandwich for today’s lunch, but it turns out I wasn’t in the mood for a sandwich. After a couple of minutes of brainstorming I decided that I must have some thing spicy and that I must have a potato with my lunch.

So I cranked up the oven and diced up a tomato. I also pulled out the leftover BBQ chicken breast, topped with canned diced jalapenos, and then covered with shredded cheddar cheese.

I popped it all in the oven, turning the potatoes after 7 or 8 minutes. And, voila! I added some salad on the side and some ketchup to the taters and I was good to go. The spicy chicken was so good! It was exactly what I wanted.

I couldn’t leave the house without a little something for dessert. I ended up grabbing a couple of mini cupcakes that I had pulled out of the freezer on Sunday plus a small glass of skim milk. I topped one with a store bought whipped vanilla buttercream icing (I can’t bear to throw it away and waste it so B and I are eating it bit by bit) and the other with a buttercream-nutella combo. So good, a great way to start my afternoon as I headed back to the office.

The sunshine is beckoning me outside. I am looking forward to 5 PM and a walk with the family. What are you looking forward to this afternoon?

Today was a busy day at work again. I am loving the heavier work load but it is leaving me with less to talk about. How can I possibly be any more boring?

My lunch meeting today went well. Now that I have decided what direction I want my career to take I a ready to take action. Patience is not my strong point, but I have to be smart about the decisions I make. I want to start taking steps to a career in the non-profit industry but I don’t want to be rash and damage relationships with my current employer. Today’s meeting gave me some pointers on networking and let me know about some potential opportunities that may become available this fall, if I can wait that long.

Honestly, I have held out for nearly 3 months just waiting on this meeting. Now I have to decide is I want to wait another 7-8 months. I don’t know if I have that much patience. And although the meeting answer some questions and made me feel good about some things I am still feeling lost.

I feel like I need a change, but can’t figure out what that change is. I have started blogging, eating better, and exercising. I need to get back into church, but other than that I don’t know what other changes to make in my personal like which leads me to believe that I need to make a professional change. How long can I wait and keep my sanity? I am trying to think things through and be an adult about this rather than acting on impulse.

So enough of all of that. Thanks for reading.

No pictures of lunch because that would not have left the most professional impression. Once I got back to the office I munched on a couple cupcakes.

My afternoon was so busy there was no snacking.

B and I were both hungry when I got home from work. I was also craving some more guacamole so I went back out to get some more avacados, and B whipped it right up.

I also steamed some rice and topped it with some leftover Turkey Tortilla soup that I made after Thanksgiving and froze.

We ate at our usual location on the couch and I couldn’t be bothered with the pit stop at the table for my photoshoot.

It was really nice to have something so quick and simple for dinner. Now I am all caught up on Monday night TV!

Dessert will more than likely be a clementine (or 2) and a piece of chocolate.

Time to do a little [web] surfing before bed (and before my battery dies).

Night!

Baking has always been one of may favorite things to do. Although I often feel too busy and tired to let myself enjoy it nowadays.

Some of my fondest baking memories were when I was 13 years old and on chemotherapy. I didn’t have to go to school, so once my home-school work was done I would go into the kitchen and bake on some of the days I felt good enough. At 13, I was making Red Velvet Cake with cream cheese icing from scratch. Yum!

I guess I get this passion from my Memaw. She made cakes from scratch, but she could also put an interesting spin on the box cakes to make them here own too. And my Dad always loved her Blackberry Cobbler.

So every now and again I get the urge and motivation to bake. Although the motivation isn’t so much for the baking as it is for the cleaning up that follows. This past Sunday evening was one of those days. After Brian and I finished our dinner of spaghetti squash, which was an adventure I am not sure I want to repeat, I decided to pull our the recipe box and pull some recipes to try.

Unlike many people, my recipe box does not include a bunch of recipes passed down from my family. My recipe box is a box full of index card with recipes that I have saved from magazines like Real Simple and Everyday Food. I cut out the recipe and the picture of the food and paste them to an index card, because I like to have an idea of what the final dish could/should look like.

On Sunday I got baking crazy! I made vanilla, chocolate, half chocolate-half vanilla, chocolate-vanilla-chocolate layered, and vanilla-chocolate-vanilla layered cupcakes with vanilla buttercream icing; Reese’s Cup cookies; blueberry muffins (these were from a pouch for Brian); and chocolate shortbread. Needless to say we both had to take goodies to work on Monday so we wouldn’t be eating all of those sweets ourselves. It is nice to have people to share these treats with so I can get the practice without all of the calories. I hope they like them.

When I step back and think about it, the peace I feel and the joy I experience from baking is well worth the time spent. I wish I was able to step back and look at the big picture a little more often and made more of an effort to do the things I love, or could love. Maybe this weekend I will take another stab at my sewing project!