Lilac Saloon

Bakerstiltskin

I'm not a baker.

I'm not even much of a cook.

But I do try!!

There is this amazing baking blog called Bakerella 

(in reference to Barbarella, an awesome '60's movie you MUST see).  

Everything that Bakerella does is absolutely stunning.  Her baking, her photographs and her easy to follow tutorials.  

I decided I really wanted to try to make cake pops!  

They look like they might be complicated.. but when I read the directions they sounded so easy!!!  Easy and fun, even!  So after work I went and tried to get all of the necessary ingredients.

They didn't have sucker sticks at the store, so I decided to go with cake balls which look almost just as fun.

And they didn't have those candy chips that you melt for the coating... so I thought I'd just use chocolate chips.  Chocolate... melty... all the same, right?

So I made the cake...

Now here is where things get interesting.

Remembering what I read on Bakerella... I crumbled up the cake into a fine crumbly mess.  I then added almost the whole can of cream cheese icing.  Hand mixed it up - the fun/messy/gross part...

Rolled it into balls and stuck them in the freezer.

All is going well so far!!

 

Now remember how I said I had to substitute the chocolate candy bark with regular chocolate chips?

I melted the chips properly and they melted nicely.

 

But  it was a little thick to dip the cake balls into, so I thought... how about I add just a little bit of milk?

And that happened.  And it would not melt - AT ALL.  HUH??

So melted chocolate + bit of milk = hard ball of chocolate fudge??

WOW.

Kay... so... I could not cover the cake balls in anything.  

Now I just have naked cake balls and a giant ball of chocolate!  HAHAHA.

"A" for effort?

Was I an Offbeat Bride?

A couple days after I got engaged, my friend Heidi (the one that made my wedding dress!) told me about this really awesome website called Offbeat Bride.  So we went on there and looked around together.   I WAS SO EXCITED to have discovered this!!!  It was so... perfect.  So amazing!  So inspirational!  And so NOT... The Knot.  There are some okay tools on The Knot (oh like the super detailed budgeter and guest list organizer) but it's overall a website created for weddings that are done in a traditional wedding format.  A traditional wedding format was not at all what I wanted for my wedding day.  Things that are important to some people felt totally unnecessary and weird to me.  My heart was pulled in the direction of the Offbeat Brides.

The post on Offbeat Bride today is as follows... which will explain some things to you:

You know you're an offbeat bride when…

By Cassie…

…you ask your engaged friend, "What are your centerpieces going to be, and how are you making them?" and she looks at you funny and says the florist is bringing them. Then you remember, oh yeah, centerpieces are traditionally beautiful flower arrangements brought in by florists, not the homemade concoctions made from a combination of dried gourds, vintage buttons, wind-up toys, and mini cast-iron bicycles that you were planning on.

…your relatives think your engagement must be off just because they can't find a wedding website/registry for you on The Knot.

…you ask a bride-to-be what color her dress is and she says, "Like, do you mean ivory vs. white?" and you remember not everyone considers red/purple/rainbow/polka-dotted dresses for their wedding day.

…when you mention you're getting married, strangers, store clerks, and vendors give your bare ring finger a long look mixed with pity and suspicion.

…your engaged friend plans a 5-hour-long mimosa/hair appointment the day of the wedding and you remember not all brides plan to spend their pre-wedding time carting in the alcohol, dishes, glasses, decorations, etc. to the DIY reception site.

…your friend asks, "What are your colors?" and you stare at her blankly for 10 minutes because you have no idea what the heck she's talking about.

…friends are not amused when they ask what your theme is and you say, "Um…getting married?"

…friends and family announce "Yourname Hislastname!" and then say how good it sounds before you can stop them and explain you're keeping your own name.

…friends are not amused when they ask what your theme is and you say, "Um…getting married?"

…a coworker asks, "Have you found a church yet?" and you respond, "For what?"

…your toilet tank conspicuously lacks a stack of thick bridal magazines, and instead features a funny little blue book by some chick who has "Meadow" in her name.

And finally, you know you're an offbeat bride when you accept and celebrate your best friend's uber-traditional wedding, because that is what she wants and that is just awesome for her. And then you go out searching for the perfect set of hot pink and purple polka-dotted frogs for your cake topper and all is well in the world.

..........

I just love that it's a community of independent thinkers.  I like encouraging people to be unique because it makes the world more interesting... ya know??  I don't think anything at all is wrong with a traditional wedding.  Wear white!  Get married in a church!  Have a first dance!  Feed each other cake while we all take pictures!  Have monogramed napkins and a buffet dinner and throw your flowers!

BUT ONLY DO IT BECAUSE YOU LOVE IT!

Don't do it because you think it's supposed to be in a wedding!  Do it if it has meaning to you!

I feel very strongly about this!  The focus can get totally diffused onto other things (and other stressors) if you aren't careful.  The focus of the day has to be TOTALLY on the ONE reason that you are having the day in the first place.  What is your wedding day?  It is the day that you make a promise to the one person that you love most that you will always love them most and be a team throughout life.

Do you need monogramed napkins in order to make this promise possible?  HECK NO!

So follow your heart on your wedding day and only do what has special meaning to you and your honey.  Throw everything else out the window.  No one will notice what is missing.

They'll only notice how happy you look as you look into each other's eyes.

Etsy in Wonderland

So in my last post I briefly mentioned that Alice In Wonderland is being re-made by Tim Burton in 2010 - and that I'm super excited about it because I LOVE Alice in Wonderland and Tim Burton movies.

I was thinking about how I wanted to find and feature a random Etsy seller today.  

What better way than to find one through the ever inspirational ALICE?!

So here is what you find when you type ALICE into the Etsy search....

(okay I am featuring A FEW sellers because there were so many awesome things!!)

by poetsummer

by JacqleenBleu

by justbedesigns

by UntamedMenagerie

by StephanieFizer

by frostingcouture

by adorapop

by OrangeWillow

Don't you just LOVE Alice??

Alexander McQueen for TARGET?!

Yes.

For real!

If you did not already know this about me, Alexander McQueen is one of my absolute favorite designers.  I have been obsessed with his work since I was first discovering designers.  

His Spring 2005 collection is when I really fell in love.

I even had the wonderful opportunity to see some of his collection in person on display at the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York City.  That purple one up there is one that I saw.

I have always looked to his collections for inspiration.

I have always admired the directions that he took.  The risks.

The statements.

The absolute creativity.

And now... I will actually be able to purchase and wear something from the (cheaper) McQueen line.  Thank you god, and thank you Target!!

The launch date is March 4th!  That is my Mom's birthday.  What a GREAT day!  :) (love you mama)

So Mom, when I call you on your birthday, I will probably be calling from the fitting room in Target.

*all the runway photos are from www.style.com*

p.s. to all Project Runway watchers.  In case you haven't already been shown the visual connection between Kenley's feather dress and the Alexander McQueen dress they were referring to when she said "I don't look at designers"...  here it is...

and McQueen:

Get serious, Kenley.  So you added more poof underneath?  

It's still HEAVILY "inspired" by the McQueen dress.

The end.

Coraline and other Dakota Fanning related material

Ever since the first preview came on TV, I have been super excited to go and see Coraline.

I've been reading things about it through some other bloggers.

My personal reveiw is...

Don't take your crying children to see a movie that you know is gonna be creepy.  It's not for babies.  It's animated, yes, but that does not mean it's for two year olds!  Maybe I'm unsympathetic because I do not have kids and don't truly know the feeling of "oh my god I really need to get out of the house and do something".  But still.  Respect others.  Or I'll bring six of my drunk friends to the theater to see Pooh Bear and the Honey Jar and kick the back of YOUR seat.

Anyway.

Onto the movie!  I thought it was so beautifully done!  We did not get to see the 3-D version but I had confidence that the movie would not need to rely on it's 3-D effects to be a good movie.  I was right :).  I love the way that Henry Selick creates such a magical world for you.  It feels so believable and thought out.  The details in the old house, the creepy garden area.  The characters were odd and wild and funny.  Even though they didn't necessarily look totally like real people... the way they behaved really made you see them as real (strange) people that could possibly exist in the world.  I loved the fat lady with the gigantic boobs and when Coraline says "oh. my. god." when she sees them on stage!

 Dakota Fanning (I love her) did a great job with the voice of Coraline.  I was really excited when I heard that it was her doing the voice. 

 

I decided I might as well catch up on my Dakota Fanning movies so I rented The Secret Life of Bees.  I haven't watched a movie with an emotional story-line like that one in a long time.  Evan isn't into anything realistic, ever, so it's always zombie movies for us.  I forgot how much I loved a good story and this one didn't have to work too hard to bring the tears.  Dakota... that girl is crazy good at what she does.  I can't even believe how well she can portray a character so deep.  I hope she grows up normal and that being a star does not mess her up.  Because I like her.

I don't want her to freak out and shave her head.

I wanted to rent Hounddog but didn't realize that it doesn't even release until Tuesday.  It was technically released in September but it was then pulled back.  Controversy.  People can't handle it.  I'm determined to see every one of her movies.  I know she is in Push, and although I really don't like action movies at all, I will have to rent it eventually because of her.

Do you ever have to see a movie just because of who is acting in it?

AND.  Did you hear about Tim Burton re-making Alice in Wonderland????

I'm freaking out about it!

Unique Vintage Love

I can't get enough of some of the clothes on this website....

It's called Unique Vintage and they are located in Burbank, California.

They specialize in dresses, gowns and vintage inspired clothing.

I'm going to dig through the website and share some of my favorites with you!!

A 1920's Black Burnout Velvet Flapper Dress

Find it here on their website.

This suuuuuuper cute 1950's Reproduction Swing Dress.

I am probably buying this.

See it here on their website.

And check this out!  He is a purse....

Hahaha!  So cute!

See him here.

They have so much that I haven't dug through it all yet.  I don't love everything on there but there are definitely some treasures so it is worth looking!!