Cupcakes and Commentary

Friday Favorites

February 1, 2019 No Comments

Reading is serious work! Best to wear sweatbands.

A glimpse of Spring.

Easy chicken recipes for weeknight meals.

BBQ chicken quinoa for lunch.

Best ideas to prepare for a trip.

Triple chocolate cookies.

The Home Edit’s top organizing tips. My favorite is the drawer organizers!

Modern and vintage in one gorgeous home.

My favorite new dress from Nordstrom.

The only kind of resolutions to make!

Baking the most average chocolate chip cookie based on science.

Finally, I’ve been doing a bunch of textbook editing this week and podcasts have helped me through it! My favorites were Episode 56 & 57 from The Forever 35 podcast, and Episode 215 & 303 of Milk Street Podcast.

Serious reads

The Library Book

January 31, 2019 No Comments

I just finished The Library Book, and it just continued to support my love of libraries. From late night studying at my university library with a stack of Communication journals surrounding me, to ten years of story time with the boys, to our on-going hold list that I swing by and pick up on my way to or from work, I love the library.

I remember our pediatrician telling us at our first newborn visit with A that if all else fails just read to him. And that’s what I did. When we ran out of tummy time, and swing time, and playing/looking at toys, we read and read. I would check-out a stack of books and just sit with both boys and read.

One of their favorite shows (and mine) when they were small was Between the Lions, that was based in the library. We would watch every week and check out the books from the show at the library.

Each of the boys had a favorite book that they requested over and over. A’s was Little Cloud and J’s was Along A Long Road. I have purchased each of those books at this point to keep as a memory of their favorite books.

One of my favorite volunteer opportunities at the boys’ school is helping in the library. For a few short hours once a month I get to help check-out books, find the current Fly Guy book for a student, or try to learn the numbering system of all the non-fiction books.

So, what I’m saying is, if you love libraries like I do, you must read The Library Book. It’s an insightfully written book that gives you a wider perspective of the role of libraries within our culture. It also skillfully weaves in the LA Central Library fire in 1986 and its ramifications on the library, librarians, and their books. I enjoyed every minute of reading it and was sad when it ended. So go check it out!

Homage to Danny Tanner, How was your weekend?, Local Eats, Mini Cupcakes

This and That

January 30, 2019 No Comments

This dress arrived on my doorstep this week and I’m in love! It fits perfectly, and can easily be worn for work or that date night that people talk about.

J and I finished the puzzle we’ve been working on…

And so I found him the next day with all of his imaginext items out, now that he isn’t getting up to work on the puzzle. I guess he hasn’t outgrown them quite yet:

My favorite blood orange margarita is in season at our favorite taco place:

And like everyone else in America, I’m currently finding the joy of organizing in my house (although let’s be honest, I’ve always found joy in organizing):

While I didn’t pile all my clothes on my bed, I’ve gone through all of my items in my closet and drawers, and I’m slowly dealing with the other clutter drawers in our house. I’ve also got the boys cleaning their drawers out as well! By the end of the year our house is going to be at a super organized level.

And finally, I put up our Valentines decorations, so our house feels very festive!

Home Decor, Philosophical Cupcakes, Teacher Essentials

Teacher Tuesday-Office Favorites

January 29, 2019 No Comments

Right now my office space is shared while they are renovating our very old building. I’m excited for when it is completed because I will have my own office space again, and I’ll be able to move all of the items that are currently living in limbo in our garage. Here are some of my office supply essentials!

1. A stamp for especially great projects or papers (I also use this virtually for my hybrid courses!)

2. A selfie light for my laptop because I have to record lectures, and you don’t really think about lighting until you realize fifty plus people per semester are watching the videos.

3. A dry erase board that I have outfitted with this DIY for semester planning.

4. A weekly to do list that I keep beside me to write down reminders in class and in my office.

5. A microphone so that students can hear over our apparently loud air conditioner.

6. My current favorite pens recommended to me by one of my students.

7. Expo markers, I’m constantly buying these because I use them in class and lose them a lot.

This post contains affiliate links, thanks for supporting my blog!

Family travels, Traveling Disney Style

Orlando Stopover before Disney

January 28, 2019 No Comments

We’re a good ten hours from Disney World, which means that it’s either one very long driving day, or we split it into two days. We’ve made various halfway stops on our trip down, but on this particular trip we drove almost all the way in, stopping at Lake Buena Vista. We ate at Shake Shack for dinner (one of my favorites):

One of my life quests is to get the unique concretes (ice cream) at every Shake Shack. I’ve got three so far (DC, Austin, Orlando):

Then we marveled at the huge (and I do mean huge) Ferris wheel, at the outdoor entertainment venue where Shake Shack is located. There is also an awesome pirate themed miniature golf, that we decided next time we should take into consideration!

We stayed at The Embassy Suites Lake Buena Vista, which was very nice. It does always make me laugh that B wants to get a suite because most of the time the boys end up wanting to sleep in the same room as us instead of taking the pull out sofa in the separate room.

This would be a great option if you were visiting both Universal Studios and Disney World! However, our sights were set for Disney!

Friday Favorites

January 25, 2019 No Comments

We are one hundred days in! This tiny sir dressed up as a very mysterious one hundred year old man for the one hundredth day. We’ve got basketball games, lots of reading, and potentially snow headed our way! I’m looking forward to sleeping in on Saturday, and maybe making some waffles with the big box of Kodiak Cakes mix I picked up at Costco.

Cheesy chicken and rice for our next weeknight meal.

DIYs to organize all your stuff.

Winter workwear in tweed.

The benefits of after holiday detoxing.

How long to hold a plank.

S’mores bars for when it’s too cold to make s’mores.

Winter skincare routine and product application order.

Spots to visit in Nashville.

Mindfulness to create minimalism.

And finally I was saving my Sephora points up for this set. I’m so excited to test out all the products!

cooking beginnings, Favorite Recipes, Recipes

Making pasta

January 23, 2019 No Comments

B gifted me a pasta maker for Christmas, and while I’m still getting the hang of it, it’s alot of fun to test out! Our favorite current recipes are from the fall edition of Magnolia Journal:

The pasta was good, but the sauces were amazing. I’ve got to step-up my pasta skills to match the sauces!

You can get a copy of the Magnolia Journal Fall 2018 here! I highly suggest picking it up, you’ll refer to it again and again!

Mini Cupcakes, Seriously Fabulous Party Ideas

J’s Super Bowl Extravaganza

January 22, 2019 No Comments

In less than two weeks, my baby will be seven. Seven! Both boys were born (by coincidence) on major football weekends. A’s Birthday usually falls on a weekend in October where there are critical college football games, and J was born the weekend of the Super Bowl. This was the first year that J really connected that his birthday was on Super Bowl Sunday, and he was ecstatic. I probably would’ve been annoyed if my birthdate aligned with a huge football game, but not J. He was pumped and immediately asked for a football themed party. I’ve been rounding up football decorations and party supplies, so I thought I’d share what I found so far…

The tablecover, banner, and squishy footballs are Amazon buys. I found that it was a better deal to get all the tableware (plates, napkins, straws, football cutouts), the pencils, and football candles are from Party City because they have smaller quantities. I picked up the football T-shirt from Gap online (sold out, but I also loved this one), and the football washi tape is from Hobby Lobby. I also picked up this sign from Hobby Lobby:

And I’m going to pick up some ring pops to add to the treat bags, and maybe football wristbands because J is obsessed with them:

He’s already so pumped! It’s going to be a great birthday/Super Bowl!

Friday Favorites

January 18, 2019 No Comments

My current favorite gloss that I’m using everyday during this crazy winter season! It reminds me of my favorite Bonnie Bell gloss from when I was a kid, but more adult and has vitamin E to help keep your lips hydrated. Here are some more of my favorites from the week!

Maintaining proper form in working out.

Fascinating facts about The Wave, one of my favorite works of art.

A Place for Us.

Stovetop macaroni and cheese.

My favorite podcast of the week.

Garlic butter rolls.

I am endlessly looking for new ways to cook chicken thighs.

Drawer dividers to work on my joy of tidying up.

Winter casual chic.

How to fall asleep fast and stay asleep.

Disney Eats, Traveling Disney Style

Disney Snack Round-Up

January 16, 2019 No Comments

From classics to new finds, I’ve rounded-up some of our favorite snacks from our Disney trip! We share a lot of snacks on our trip, just because some are typically large snacks, and also to cut down on the sugar overload. I’ve marked through the post snacks that we’ve split, or got individual servings, to give you a better idea of the portions.

First up, the dole whip. You will not ever find a Disney trip that I don’t get a dole whip. Ever. We typically buy two and split them.

Second, classic Mickey bars. The boys always request these, and our favorite spot to eat them is anywhere shaded. We buy individual ones for these because they get messy really fast and they aren’t that big.

Third, Mickey pretzels. These are always good, which is why we make a stop for one on every trip. We typically get three and split.

Fourth, Gaston’s cinnamon roll. My recommendation is to ask them to warm the roll (it’s supposed to come warm, but ours didn’t). We got one and split it, it’s very sweet.

Fifth, Mickey cinnamon roll. This was less sweet than Gaston’s cinnamon roll (which I liked), but I didn’t like the chocolate sauce that much, plus it melted super fast. We got one and split it, but it wasn’t nearly enough. I’d get two.

Sixth, the Mickey rice krispie bar with m&ms. This is the ultimate sugar rush, but delicious! We got two and split them.

Seventh, the shaved ice in Epcot Japan. These are huge, we got one and split it.

Eighth, the school bread in Epcot Norway. This is a spice-flavored, creamy bun, and it is not super sweet. It wasn’t exactly what I was expecting, but it’s worth getting once just to see what all the hype is about. We got one and split it.

Pastries in Epcot France. Definitely get your own. Not that they aren’t shareable, but typically you won’t want to share (featured are the duo and parfaits aux fruits):

And finally, these apple cider donut holes were my favorite. I’d maybe share it, but I think you could get individual ones and easily eat them all. These may be seasonal, but I found them at the Isle of Java spot in Animal Kingdom:

Happy snacking!