not your typical easy bake oven.

upon arriving home from my thanksgiving vacation, i was beyond delighted to find this hand painted, personalized, mini oven. being the overly observant person that i am, i was not even up the steps when out of the corner of my eye, i spied something new. i immediately dropped my bags to investigate further and could not believe someone had found a vintage, metal oven and it was painted just for me. beaming with a huge smile, i texted my roommate, knowing she would have some answers. and that she did! her dad is a collector of all things awesome and stumbled upon this oven during one of his many treasure hunts. he had a friend hand paint the oven to match my oh for heaven cakes logo and he rewired it, so the light would work.

isn't it adorable?



complete with a working oven door and mini cupcake pans!



and the night light...



and to top it all off, jack had a mini loaf pan filled with my business cards.



i placed the oven in a spot where i see it every time i go to and from the house, and each time i see it, i can't help but smile. is it not the cutest darn thing you ever did see?

caution: sharp objects ahead.

i present to you THE retractable sharpie.




i have one word for this product...genius. i can't get enough of the retractable sharpie. i find myself using it to write things down that don't necessitate a permanent marker, but i love it so much that it's like my new right hand man.

and guess what? they come in colors! it's the newest addition to my christmas list, for sure.

like. totally. for sure. ya know?

Typography from Ronnie Bruce on Vimeo.

seen first on mimi & meg

craving a crafternoon.

kissy face

there's no need to worry your mistletoe wilting before the party, because the genius, kate spade, made a little hair clip so you can take your mistletoe with you and spread the good cheer to all those you adore.





pretty. darn. cute.

rochester recap

a pictoral recap of my trip to rochester and my first plane ride with eric. lots of memories that will stay with me forever.

at the george eastman museum, they had all these cute gingerbread houses made by locals, including, chefs, brownie troops, etc. i made eric take so many photos so i could use them as inspiration for when i make my own gingerbread house later this month.

please notice the lollipop garden in the bottom left of this photo. that's for sure going in my front yard of my gingerbread house this year!



i called this one the love shack, only because of the candy cane heart above the door and i bet there is some mistletoe hanging in the foyer.



a winery...stole my heart.



and some houses got all fancy pants on us...



it goes without saying, i was completely enthralled and fascinated by the details of the houses. like a kid in a candy store, i was!



nightly games of apples to apples were entertaining to say the least. throughout the game, you collect cards of adjectives. i think it's interesting to read what you end up with and see if they describe you. if they do, here's what they say about us...

i'm influential, squeaky clean, sharp, spunky, spooky and eternal.



eric is handsome (agreed.), smart, witty, comical, emotional, weird (fo sho), wicked and powerful.



jenni, eric's sister is intelligent (uh-huh), melodramatic and wild (not so much, i don't think).



eric's mom, suzy, is friendly, sensitive, a goody-goody, heartless, miserable, mischievous, industrious, complicated, neglected and useless (far from).



eric's dad, bob, is a woebegone (?), european, violent, ridiculous, glorious, graceful (especially on the football field), magical, zany and worldy.



saturday was a day of exploring. we had a yummy, yummy breakfast at simply crepes in pittsford, ny where some genius came up with creme brulee oatmeal. it was DIVINE, as were the crepes. after seeing the eerie canal, we drove to lake ontario...it was gorgeous!

lake for as far as the eye can see...



brrrr.



and some falls.



after a day of taking in the sights, we settled in around the kitchen table for another night of apples to apples and some tim tam slammers!

on this night of games i was a bright, twisted, masculine (sometimes), misunderstood (always), mysterious (definitely) visionary.



what's a tim tam slammer, you ask? i discovered tim tams while studying abroad in australia. they are sandwich cookies dipped in chocolate and are just so tasty. my aussie friends introduced me to the slammer part, where you take a small bite on two opposite corners of the cookie, dip one end in a hot drink of choice, simultaneously put your mouth around the other bitten corner of the tim tam, let the hot drink soak a little bit into the cookie to melt the inside chocolate-ness, and suck it up all at once, hence a slammer. it's a bit difficult to explain, or even perform in person, but it was fun nonetheless.

and this was not a group of bystanders...here's eric.



his dad.



jenni. it's a bit messy at times!



and i resorted to dipping after failing the slam all together.



sunday morning came fast, and we had to say goodbye to eric's parents as they started their drive back to kansas city.



it was a skinny driveway, so jenni and i were trying to steer clear of the reversing car.



on sunday afternoon, we visited the strong children's museum with some of jenni's friends. here i am with anna on the carousel. she is so cute, with her bob haircut!



charlie and jenni chatting on a roadtrip.



playing with the mr. potato head props, i found a trendy stache.



and we took a quick trip to sesame street.



we had a lovely time in rochester and escaped without seeing a flake of snow!!

don't forget your pom pom hat and puffy vest.

i'm back safe and sound from a wonderful trip to rochester, ny for thanksgiving with eric's family. we had a great time, saw lots of the city including the eerie canal, lake ontario, the eastman house and a children's museum because we are all kids at heart. we also enjoyed incredible food at the dinosaur bar for some barbeque and simply crepes for an early afternoon breakfast after we all slept way in.

here's a polaroid of eric and me near lake ontario.



it was a bit chilly, which provided the perfect environment for me to debut my new, stripey hat complete with ear flaps and three, count them, three pom poms! more photos and details of the trip to come!

thankful.

i kinda dropped the ball on continuing a tradition of making a list of 100 things i'm thankful for. i composed my first one last year, and thanksgiving sort of snuck up on me this year. it doesn't mean i'm any less thankful for the things in my life, so here is a little taste of what i'm thankful for this year.

1. my ability to sleep on a plane, because tomorrow's wake up call is going to be early!

2. j.crew catalogs that make their way to my mailbox and make me smile instantly.

3. my parents, who have given me the tools to live in this world and who are there to catch me when i stumble along.

4. my sister (& her new fiance) who make me happy to see them so happy and in love.

5. the lime who has made me the happiest girl in the world. he challenges me, supports me and lets me dream bigger than i ever have before. and we are going on our first plane ride together tomorrow!

6. without this girl, i'm not sure where i would be today. she has helped me discover my true self and has always embraced me for who i am. i love that we can encourage each other, be honest with each other and be completely silly with each other. she is a true gem, and i am beyond lucky to know her and call her my roommate.

7. hot coffee.

8. thischurch. wow. redeemer has changed my thinking in a radical way and i'm so thankful for the truth they preach every sunday.

9. that my ipod has been successfully resuscitated, just in time for my holiday trip!

10. a job where i can be creative. what a gift.

what are you thankful for this year?

quotes from the carpool.

a gem yet again...

learning lessons.

after the cupcake tragedy i experienced last week, i learned my lesson and changed my transporting ways today by buckling up my cupcakes. here they are all strapped in and ready for their journey downtown.



and i'm happy to report that everyone arrived to the office safe and sound. another cupcake delivery accomplished!