paris & italy

i was informed last night that i have been neglecting my blog, so here's a quick one to give everyone their fix :)  as most of you probably know, mom and i ventured over to europe this past month for a little adventure through paris and the amalfi coast!  it was incredible to say the least, and i can't wait to go back again someday... hopefully someday will turn out to be sooner rather than later!  at any rate, we spent three days in paris and then seven on the amali coast doing various things. 

first off, paris was amazing!  i made mom walk up the stairs of the eiffel tower instead of taking the lift (another thing to cross off my life to do list!), i also made her ride the farris wheel by the tuilleries so we could have a better view of the city!  we trekked all over the city in the three short days we were there... here are some of my favorite shots from that part of the trip.

(shots to be added soon... computer is being a pain in my butt!)

the second part of the trip was in italy... we stayed in a small hotel in minori, which is a neighboring town of amalfi.  we took part in a three day cooking class there, where i tried and loved fresh anchovies, go figure!  we went to a mozzarella factory, a limoncello factory, an old roman villa, pompei, a pasteria, and more!!  the food was gorgeous and fresh and i can't wait to make the recipes again here (if i can only get my hands on some fresh anchovies!). 

(shots to be added soon!)

after the cooking class was over, we had four days to do whatever our little hearts desired, so... we spent one day on the beach in minori, then took a day trip to positano and walked around all day.  the following day we took a boat trip around the grottos (minus the blue grotto, which was closed because of rough water :( ), and then to capri.  while in capri we also took the single chair lift up to ana capri, which had insane views of the whole island!  needless to say, i took several pictures!  the last day on the coast was spent in positano again, but this time we just sat on the beach all day reading and people watching... perfect ending to an unforgetable adventure!!

(again, shots to be added soon!)

capture cincinnati

hello all!!!  please forgive me for not having posted anything in awhile, i've been a bit busy!  this post however isn't really about cupcakes (again, forgive me!), but a photography contest going on in cincinnati through the the next few months.  last year i submitted several shots, one of which landed on the capture cincinnati dvd!  my goal this year is to actually get a shot into the book, and that's where ya'll come in!  please go onto www.capturecincinnati.com and VOTEVOTEVOTE!!!!  i have several shots up, and will continue to post things over the coming months!  it would mean a great deal to me if you would go on to the site and vote!  the shots below are some that are doing well at this point (as well as some of my personal favs!) to give you a taste of what i have submitted!  thanks for everyone's help and i hope everyone is having a great summer!!

xoxoxo

chad's groom's cake

i got the idea for this cake from a t-shirt that drew hunter wore to a brunch the day of his wedding a year ago this past weekend.  i thought it was hilarious and duplicated it for chad's cake after emily told me to 86 the superman theme.  it was my buttermilk cake with chocolate buttercream icing.  the best part about the cake was watching ashley sneak from plate to plate after everyone had left so that she could get more finger's full of the icing... priceless!!!

chocolate angel food

i made these a few weeks ago, and they were pretty yummy!!  they were chocolate angel food cupcakes that i sawed the tops off of so i could put a layer of whipped cream in.  i then topped them with strawberries and drizzled them with chocolate.  they were gorgeous and sold out in one day!!

giraffe cupcakes!!

i know many of you have been awaiting this post, and it's finally up!  these are giraffe cupcakes i did for my friend mitch's niece, lucy, for her 2nd birthday this past weekend.  i think they turned out pretty well actually!  they are my buttermilk cupcakes with a plain buttercream i died brown.  the necks are sugar wafers that are melded together with chocolate, then have chocolate and sprinkles on the backs of the necks for the mane.  nilla wafers are the heads, with chocolate jelly beans for the ears.  i was going off of the horse cupcakes from hello, cupcake!