Anatomy of a Cupcake

We all know I am not the most skilled chef, nor do I have a desire to slave away in a kitchen, but one thing I DO love is making cupcakes!  I love experimenting to make the cutest and/or healthiest cupcake recipie.  There is something about those little cakes with fun frosting and wrappers that makes me actually WANT to be in the kitchen. 

My mom and my sister are avid bakers, and have piping bags with different decorating tips, and even make their own batter and icing.  One day, I'm sure I'll reach their level of cupcake-mastery too.  Maybe.  Anyway, these are some that Mom made over Thanksgiving weekend that she took to the Egg Bowl...

I'm making my first cupcakes in my kitchen in Tuscaloosa tonight for Brooke's bridal shower tomorrow!  Pictures (not nearly as cute as these) to come!

Also be thinking about this lovely momma, who will have her first child AT ANY TIME!  Whoa!  Hopefully I will get to see them BOTH this weekend in Hattiesburg! 

Looking forward to hosting a shower for the first time, road tripping, and seeing some long-lost friends (KZ!) this weekend!

The giving of thanks!

This Thanksgiving break was by far one of the most filling I've had in years- filled with food from two different Thanksgiving lunches; filled with miles of traveling to Hoover, Homewood, Plantersville, Tupelo, and Oxford; and filled with lots of love from some of my favorite people who I don't see often enough.  Even though I abstained from doing the Facebook "thirty days of what I'm thankful for" posts, I have lots to be thankful for this year!  I live in an awesome town with true, uplifting friends all around me, I have a new job which I love (and helps pay for graduate school!), and I have two little pups who show me unconditional love with endless slobbery kisses.  To top it off, I get to spend every day with my number one man, AND things have been coming together for our wedding in a way that I never dreamed, both logistically and financially.  YAY!

My break started Wednesday night, when I got off work and plopped down on the couch to soak in the fact that I HAD FOUR WHOLE DAYS TO DO WHATEVER I WANTED!  Needless to say, I was ready for a break!  That whole "soaking up" moment lasted approximately five minutes, and then Justin and I decided it was time for a date night!  I changed into a t-shirt, shorts, and sneakers and threw my hair up in a ponytail (because I'm 24 and that's how I like to dress for date night sometimes), and we went to the only place we can usually agree upon- Applebee's!  We are always thankful for their 2 for $20 deal, being that we're usually poor.  After dinner, we headed over to Midtown Village where I picked up a few Christmas presents, and we stopped by Barnes and Noble to pick up some books to read over the break.  Why I thought I would have time to read, I don't know, but I DID pick up a book I have been eyeing for quite a while now (Mindy Kaling's Is Everyone Hanging Out Without Me) because, thankfully, I was able to find it in paperback, and this gem that we found on the "Humor" table...

The pull-out poster was really the selling point.

Thursday was spent waking up early and heading out to Hoover to have Thanksgiving lunch with Aunt Mary Anna and Uncle Stuart.  We helped Aunt Mary Anna get some dressing, mashed sweet potatoes, and raspberry pie together (thankfully all gluten-free!), and then we set out for Homewood, where we joined LOTS of family for our first Thanksgiving with them.

After lunch, we headed back to Hoover to decorate their lawn for Christmas.  This may sound like no big deal, but when the tallest of the bunch is 5'10, stringing net lighting on trees over 6 feet tall is no small task.  After all of the eating and decorating, we were pretty pooped and decided to head back to Tuscaloosa, passing LOTS of people standing outside at Target and Belk at the cities that are on our way home.

The next morning, I woke up before 8:00, trying to remember where I had stored all of our Christmas decorations from the move (I am THAT crazy Christmas lady). The pups and MK helped me hang garland and ornaments, and by "help", I mean they either tried to eat everything or carry it off into another room.  By the time 9:30 hit, I had a beautiful, Christmas-y home, but felt like I had been to war.  Nothing like chasing down some animals for Christmas ornaments to work off a Thanksgiving meal! 

At 10:00, Justin and I decided we would do our "Black Friday" thing (late, I know) and headed to Pet Supplies Plus, where we got some awesome deals on a puppy bed, some toys for MK, and a car seat for the boys to ride in to Tupelo.  We were officially on the road to head to Mom's by noon, and thankfully, the car seat was a HUGE help!  If you've read my previous blogs, you know that the boys hate traveling, and tend to vomit all over everyone and everything in the car.  I can gladly say that no dogs threw up, and Justin and I were VERY thankful for that!

Two hours later, we arrived at the most magical place on Earth- Mom's!   There is nothing like coming home to a cozy house, Christmas decorations up, and Mom and Neil's hugs.  One member of the family who was not excited to see us and two little pups was Lucy.

This is Lucy, not-so-affectionately known as Lucy Furr when she is being bad, which is about 95% of the time.  Lucy was not a fan of the pups, or anyone who came into her home unannounced over the break.  As you can see, Lucy does not like to be held or loved.  We are also thankful that she does not have claws ;)
After lunch, Mom, Kate, and I headed to Hobby Lobby and Kohl's for a little momma-daughter time while Justin and Neil layed on the couch watching football.  The rest of the night was spent decorating the tree and introducing Mom to Grumpy Cat.  Did I mention I love being at home?  I love being at home.

Saturday was EGG BOWL day! 

We spent seven hours in the Grove, and I was thankful to catch up with old friends, sip on some white hot chocolate from the fiance, and relax in a tent with a heater!  The game was not so good, and Kate and I ended up heading back to the tent at the third quarter because we could no longer feel our extremeties, and watched the beat down ensue from there.  Fun times.

This weekend, I was reminded how thankful am for so many things in my life, sleep and rest being near the very top of that list. Hopefully you were able to eat some good food, spend time around those you love, and get lots of much-needed rest!

This weekend will be packed with hosting a bridal shower for a sweet friend, and then traveling to Hattiesburg to see my Big (and possibly her new baby!), and my long-lost friend Katrina!  More traveling and blog posts to come!

Updates!

This past weekend included some of my most favorite things:  fun family, good food, and PLANNING!

Okay, I'll admit, sometimes wedding planning is NOT any fun, especially when considering how to pay for said wedding.  Luckily, I actually enjoy event planning, and I am always up for a challenge.  So far, I have enjoyed making my lists, seeing which flowers are most affordable, and looking into decorating options.  Lately though, it has gotten a little overwhelming.  It feels like things just keep popping up that I had no CLUE to think about, like where to have a rehearsal dinner in Columbus, where to find an affordable sound system, and how to make out my day-of itinerary.  I have been very fortunate to have some really helpful people around me- my Big, Lydia, who is also a bridesmaid, happens to be Mrs. Wedding-Planner-Extraordinaire and has been helping me with itineraries.  Our friend Hunter, who is a groomsmen, is also a talented guitar player.  And my best friend Sarah is planning my bridal shower AND bachelorette party all from Florida!  This wedding prepping has taught me so many things (time and money management!), but the most important is just how blessed I am.  This girl really does have some AWESOME friends and I am humbled at how much they actually want to help me.  I am also challenged to be a more selfless volunteer to the ones I love.  So to all of you who have helped physically or have just listened to me and given me advice, THANK YOU.  I am lucky to have you around!

This weekend, Mom came to Tuscaloosa to visit us, and we all had dinner at Taziki's, one of mine and Justin's favorite restaurants.  Saturday, we woke up early and made a Starbucks run to start the day off right.

In the Beddingfield/Herndon household, when the weather turns cold, we turn to our favorite crockpot dinner staple- CHILI!  I love chili.  Maybe love is not a strong enough word.  Chili is my number-one all-time favorite winter meal.  Chili with or without sour cream, shredded cheese, crackers... I do not discriminate.  This past week, my sweetie pie fiance offered to make some chili for me and have it ready when I got home from work. 

Let me preface this story by saying that Justin is an AWESOME cook.  On a scale of one to ten, he is a 9.5 cook, and I am a .5 cook.  So I am truly thankful to have him, and that he still wants to marry me even though I don't cook.  Thank goodness I have other redeeming qualities ;)

Anyway, Justin made chili, but it was not like the chili I was used to at home.  I mentioned this to Mom, and she brought all of her chili-making supplies to Tuscaloosa, told us which turkey meat is best to use, and taught us how to make what I like to call "Momma's Most Awesome and Delicious Chili".

Yum!  Justin started to assemble all of the chili goodness in the crockpot while Mom and I hit the road headed to Columbus to get some much-needed wedding planning done!  Since Mom was headed home after Columbus, we took separate cars for the trip.  Normally, I love, love to be around people, but I also love the time when it's just me, my music, and the open road.  Not many people want to listen to a mix of Weezer, the Foo Fighters, or Queen for an hour, nor hear me belt out the lyrics and drum on my steering wheel, so I am thankful for this alone time I get every once and a while!

Mom and I met my sister (the MOH), and Mom's friend Teresa and her son Tyler, who are helping to coordinate the reception.  To call them a God-send would be an understatement.  I am so thankful that they understand the theme and vibe of the wedding day.  Mom also fully explained how much I detest unity candles (and sand), so we are all on the same page!

We were able to talk about what kind of food I wanted for the reception, where said food tables would go, the outside ceremony decorations, and TONS of stuff that I haven't even thought about, like what color I wanted the serving platters to be, or where I wanted a picture table.  Good thing I'm most definitely NOT a bridezilla... or at least I am not one yet ;)  Honestly, as long as this wedding is heartfelt and a true statement of the love Justin and I have for one another, then I will be a happy girl.  I have full faith that everything will work out and be beautiful!



After Puckett, Mom, Kate and I got to spend some time together and had a late lunch at McAlister's (in honor of Sarah Marcy, who misses McAlister's in Florida), dessert at Krispy Kreme (a New York cheesecake doughnut!  Definitely not wedding dress friendly, but I have been doing really well on my eating-healthy lifestyle lately that I decided to splurge!  Yum!), and a visit to the mall where Mom bought me some really cute socks to wear underneath my boots.  And yesterday was spent doing copious amounts of laundry and catching up on my Gossip Girl (don't judge!).

The rest of this month is all about BABIES!! My grandlittle, Gbaby as she is affectionately known, in my college social club is having a gender reveal party in Columbus for her little one, and my Big is having her baby at the end of the month!  She and Jared were such a big part of my time in college, and I am so happy for them to be parents!! My goal is to come down to Hattiesburg to see their little one- be watching for a baby-themed post next!