BIRTHDAY DREAM CAKE!

What would my dream birthday cake be like?  Well I'd love to hire this man to come make my piano into a scrumptious chocolate birthday treat!  Thanks to everyone for all your great wishes - you made my day!

Waiting in Anticipation

Alright, I'll admit it.  With all my baking, decoupaging and making handmade soaps, deep inside I'm a Trekkie at heart.  Always have been, always will be.  In fact, many thought my dad looked like Leonard Nimoy!  He was the one who actually introduced the series to me as a kid and I've watched ever since!

When I worked for UPN a few years back I even asked to work on the new "Enterprise" series with Scott Bakula.  They started me out slow with "Voyager" (which wasn't the best in the series) and then to "Enterprise".  I wrote and produced on-air promos (or commercials that promoted the series).  I was in Trekkie heaven.

My favorite series was "Star Trek: The Next Generation"....nothing like Captain Picard up against a few random Borg!

Now, just a few years later I'm elated to discover another Trekkie on the horizon.  Looks like a pretty handsome cast too - I can't wait to see it!  Live long, prosper, and enjoy the new film!

Bargain Finds and a Sign of Things To Come

Hello everyone!  Well after a very very busy month I'm ready to catch up on some blogging!  Here are a few bargain finds from this past month - aren't they cute?  I bought these two tins signs at Joann's Fabrics for around three dollars each.  I think they're adorable, light weight and give my kitchen a little touch of country!  

Do you get catalogues in the mail?  I do....I don't need to go out and buy magazines anymore because I get so many catalogues in the mail!  Well, while perusing the Pottery Barn catalogue, I spied these beautiful glass jars!  Originally $40 each I got them for just $9 each!  That's a steal!  I love this color because it reminds me of beach glass.....

Finally, my sister gave me this adorable chalk board while my daughter and I visited her a while back, and I decided to make this bold statement after realizing I spend nearly a third of my day cleaning up after others!  Definitely a sign of things to come!  Well, thanks for stopping by and have a wonderful week!

A New Brand of Cereal!

Well my daughter came home with a very interesting assignment the other day - the class was asked to come up with a new brand of cereal based on a fairy tale character.  My daughter chose Little Red Riding Hood because she figured Max our dog would make a good wolf!  Needless to say, she had everything planned out - we taped her in front of our yard and she and I learned how to make a short movie through IMovie (I Mac)...  each student was asked to make a video or act a commercial out live.  My daughter said she was too shy to act it out in front of the class, so she acted it out on the tape alright!  It was fun and turned out cute!  Don't forget to turn off the blog music before playing the video:)  Happy viewing!

It's hot hot hot!!!!

When it's this hot at our house (we're talking 93 degrees hot!) everyone eats popsicles and ice cream all day - even our dog Max!  Stay cool!

Well maybe not a cake, but how about Banana Bread?

Well I had a few bananas just asking to be made into banana bread today!  I love this recipe my mom gave to me because the sour cream makes the whole bread so moist and yummy!  My daughter insisted we add chocolate chips for more fun....

Mom's Banana Bread Recipe

1 1/2 cups flour

1 1/4 cups sugar

1/2 cup butter

2 eggs well beaten

1/4 tsp. salt

4 Tbsp. sour cream

1 tsp. baking soda

1 cup mashed ripe bananas

1  tsp. vanilla

walnuts (or other nuts) to taste

In a hot dry skillet toast walnuts over medium heat for 2 - 3 minutes.  Remove from heat and let cool.  Walnuts can be mashed into smaller pieces when cool if desired.

Cream butter and sugar.  Add beaten eggs.  Dissolve baking soda into sour cream and add to the batter.  Add bananas, flour, salt, nuts and vanilla.  Mix well.  Bake in well-buttered oblong pan at 325 degrees from 45 minutes to one hour.  If using two loaf pans bake from 30 to 35 minutes.

Serve warm and enjoy!

Easter Weekend visit from Sis!

We had a wonderful Easter weekend - my sister came to visit us which we always love!  She made this adorable plaque for me, isn't it sweet?  She only stayed for just over a day, but we filled up her time with lots of fun!

My daughter introduced my sister to her new horse "Beebop" - he such a sweetheart and was very happy to meet her!

Our Airedale Terrier Max caught some zzzzzz's while we were at the barn.....he's certainly got the right idea!