Birthday Happenings

Well another birthday has come and gone, and what a good one this was! I spent my 27th birthday with my husband and closest friends, wouldn't have wanted it any other way.

I was overly excited for the weekend, especially to have two days off in in a row, much, much needed. Friday was a long day at work, but I was surprised with this little beauty which brought such a smile to my face. My good friend Rae was out of town for my b-day so she sent me this to work Friday afternoon. She knows me well, yummy!

 Friday night after work Pat and I hit the gym then headed out to celebrate my fellow February birthday friend, Tessa. Of course it's always fun to see her and G. Saturday I woke up fairly early, hit the gym again, ran some errands, got a spray tan (this white girl was just way to pasty), and was surprised with this from my sweet husband.

 Probably some of my favorite cupcakes ever. JRae's, you sure know how to make a girl happy.

 We then had a progressive dinner planned with some of my best friends. Ivan and Ashley had generously offered for us to use their little yellow bus, so we all met up to head out for the evening. As I stepped on to the bus, one of my best friends, Keesha and her husband Garrett were sitting in it, I about died!! They live in Dallas and we don't get to see them to often, so what a surprise it was to see her on my birthday!  Nicely done Keesh, nicely done:)

We started at Oeno's for some apps, then headed to Yia Yia's for the main course, we rounded things up with Mike's Wine Dive for some delicious s'mores.



Keesha and I

 

My good friends Nick and Ashley also happened to be in town from KC, so glad they were able to join!




Us with my good friend Amber and her husband Chad. Another friend that I just don't get to see near enough!

 

Me and Tessa - the other birthday girl!





Another surprise from Patty boy- a Marc Jacobs purse. Boy I'm a lucky girl:)





Yep, 5 minutes into the night and I spilt red wine ALL over my jeans, nice...




Love this girl!



S'Mores- Delish







The group in front of the bus (sorry, stole this from you Tessa!)

 





Neopalitan Cupcakes

I love to bake. Of coures I love to bake even more now that pinterest is around. I was looking for a good cupcake recipe a few months back, and found some I liked but they weren't quite what I was looking for. So I combined two recipes into one and created these below. Let me just say they have been quite the hit, as I've made them three times now, and have passed the recipe on to several people. Enjoy!! They are quite delish!

Ingredients
1 pkg. Brownie Mix
1 pkg. Yellow Cake Mix
Eggs
Vegetable Oil
Sour Cream
Powdered Sugar
Butter
Water
Buttermilk
Vanilla
Cream Cheese
Frozen Strawberries

Preheat oven to 350. Line muffin tins with cupcake liners. For first step combine one box of brownie mix, 2 eggs, 1/2 cup vegetable oil, 1/4 cup water. Mix all ingredients until completely incorporated, make sure to not over mix. Spoon brownie batter into cupcake liners and fill about 1/3 full.

For next step combine in large bowl- 2 eggs and 2 egg whites, 1/3 cup vegetable oil, 3/4 cup buttermilk, 3/4 cup sour cream, and 1 teaspoon vanilla. Sift in one box of yellow cake mix and combine all together. Spoon yellow cake mixture on to brownie batter filling remainder of muffin tins, about 2/3 way full.

Bake cupcakes for 20-22 minutes and remove. Let cool completely before frosting.

For frosting, beat one cup butter, softened and 8 oz. of cream cheese until mixture becomes light and fluffy.

In a blender add 1/4 cup frozen strawberries, thawed and a tad bit of water, blend until smooth. Add 1/4 cup strawberry puree to frosting and mix well. Gradually add in 4-6 cups of powdered sugar.

After cupcakes have cooled I usually add frosting to a large gallon ziplock bag and cut a small snip out of the corner and pipe frosting onto cucpakes. Enjoy!

Much Love~
Amber

April Showers Bring May Flowers

I love the rain every once in awhile, but I'm ready for some more sunshine after this week, and boy did we sure get that today, couldn't have been a more beautiful and perfect Easter! Everything is sure looking green and fresh, which I love, but on the rainy days we have been having, I just want to cuddle up with Buddy in my bed! How can you resist this face!? (BTW- I never in my wildest dreams would have thought I would have gotten so attached to a dog, let along a BIG dog)

A few things about this week..

Pat and I FINALLY went and saw Hunger Games Friday night, and I must say I LOVED IT!! Now, when I first started reading the book I was a little lost and couldn't really get into it...and I was thinking to myself maybe this isn't for me?! (I never got into twilight either and thought this may be the same type of thing) BUT when I got about half way through the book and the "games" actually began, I couldn't put the book down! I read the second half in about half the time that I read the first and was so anxious to see the movie and see it all put to life! I thought the movie did an awesome job for the most part of really following exactly what the book was about, however, I was a little disappointed with the ending, I felt like they tried to cram too much into the last 15-30 minutes because they were running out of time, either way, I still loved it- now on to the 2nd book!! Pat even liked it and he hadn't read the book, so for those that haven't you should still think about watching the movie!

THE KITCHEN IS ALMOST DONE!! I thought we were almost done a few months ago when the countertops were finally installed, boy was I wrong, the backsplash was quite the chore too, as Pat had to cut all of the tile, measure it, re-sheetrock the walls, etc. but that is finally all done, it's grouted and sealed and looks amazing! Now we just have to install new light fixtures and put the new range hood in (Pat informed me this will take a whole day itself- oh fabulous), but we're getting there!

Easter Sunday- what a great day, and oh so much to be thankful for! Started off the day by sleeping in until 10:30...holy cow, I can't remember the last time this has happened! On to church, such an awesome service! Then we headed to Grandma and Grandpa's for a late lunch, easter egg hunt, easter baskets, and delicious dessert(s)!

Happy Easter!

I'm also obsessed with sweets, mostly cake/cupcakes/cake balls in particular, and if I had the body to allow me to eat that stuff every day, I sure would! But I don't, so I get super excited when I do have the opportunity to splurge a little! There's a new bakery in Wichita that I've been dying to try called

J. Rae's, and I thought what a great idea to bring cupcakes to Easter from this bakery!! So I bought a mixed assortment of them and OMG SO GOOD! Frosting is perfection. Here are a few pics of the pure deliciousness:)

YUMMO!!

Finished the day off with taking Buddy on a walk (Pat insisted we let him swim....but it's only April!) and then we went on a nice bike ride! Goodbye weekend....hello Monday.