TGIF...seriously

This is actually at the W Hotel...Sazerac's happy hour is so popular there was a wait.

Happy Friday! Last night I went to happy hour with a co-worker for a little liquid therapy. I think it did the trick, here I am facing Friday head on. We went to Sazerac at Hotel Monaco. Their happy hour is amazing if you're ever looking for a place. It goes until 8pm and their bar menu items are $2 a piece! The food is pretty good too. Pizzas, sliders, french fries, lots of comfort food.

At lunch today Lauren and I walked to Pike Place Market where the Beatles' cover band Creme Tangerine played on the rooftop of Copacabana Cafe in celebration of the 40th anniversary of the Beatles' last performance, famously known as "the rooftop concert". We made it through one song. It was cold, and I wasn't wearing socks. Mostly we listened to the Beatles' former U.S. Manager, Ken Mansfield. Thanks for going with me Lauren...I guess we're watching history, kinda. But when it's cold like that it's really hard to think of it that way...I wonder if I would have felt the same way if I attended the inauguration. Nah I would've worn socks.

I'm headed to some friends house for dinner tonight. Hope everyone has a good weekend!

And on the 3rd day he created cupcakes.

I felt the need to add a disclaimer, as I did not taste them prior to serving

My work buddy "Susan" was feeling a little blue this week so I decided to make cupcakes. I think all companies should make you buddy up with someone else in the office so when you're having a rough day someone can bake for you, or bring your coffee (which is awesome, thank you very much). These black bottom cupcakes turned out pretty good. I suggest starting them before 9:30pm and making sure you have all the ingredients before you start. If you do that, I guarantee they will be a piece of cake, literally.

Black-Bottom Cupcakes as seen on smitten kitchen

Yield: 12 full-size or approximately 30 mini cupcakes

For the filling:

8 ounces cream cheese, regular or reduced fat, at room temperature

1/3 cup granulated sugar

1 large egg, at room temperature

2 ounces bittersweet or semisweet chocolate, coarsely chopped

For the cupcakes:

1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour

1 cup firmly packed light brown sugar

5 tablespoons natural unsweetened cocoa powder (not Dutch-process)

1 teaspoon baking soda

1/4 teaspoon salt

1 cup water

1/3 cup unflavored vegetable oil

1 tablespoon white or cider vinegar

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

Make the filling:

Beat together the cream cheese, granulated sugar, and egg until smooth. Stir in the chopped chocolate pieces. Set aside.

Make the cupcakes:

1. Adjust the rack to the center of the oven and preheat to 350°F (175°C). Butter a 12-cup muffin tin, or line the tin with paper muffin cups.

2. In a medium bowl sift together the flour, brown sugar, cocoa powder, baking soda, and salt. In a separate bowl, mix together the water, oil, vinegar, and vanilla.

3. Make a well in the center of the dry ingredients and stir in the wet ingredients, stirring until just smooth. Stir any longer and you will over mix the batter and end up with less-than-tender cupcakes.

4. Divide the batter among the muffin cups. Spoon a few tablespoons* of the filling into the center of each cupcake, dividing the filling evenly. This will fill the cups almost completely,** which is fine.

5. Bake for 25 minutes, or until the tops are slightly golden brown and the cupcakes feel springy when gently pressed. These moist treats will keep well unrefrigerated for 2 to 3 days if stored in an airtight container.

*No need for frosting, these puppies are delightful on their own!

**Also stick to the 25 minute baking time...they may not look done in the middle, but they are!

The twilight zone

The other night I had a dream about Robert Pattinson. Awhile ago my Mother-in-law lent me the Twilight Saga and I was seriously obsessed for months. It was sick, but I had a major crush and felt that "new" love feeling. Sorry to all of you who had to listen to it. I don't know what it is about those books but they seem to hit everyone hard. My Mom is still making Edward references in normal conversation. Anyhoo, I think Robert Pattinson is hot, but I am in love with the literary Edward and Robert Pattinson as Edward...lipstick and all. I prefer to see him pale white with that creepy soul burning stare, almost like he is reading my thoughts...hmmm, maybe he is.

So the other night in my dream Bryan, me, Robert and his friend- who didn't have a face- were hanging out in my parents kitchen. Yes, even in my Robert Pattinson fantasy my husband is present. Somehow Bryan and Mr. Pattinson had gone to school together and were old friends. Which explains why Bryan now rejects our efforts to dress him like a British prep school guy. If you didn't know, Robert is a Brit. Are you following me? So in my dream I was talking about H&M and Robert said "I've never been to H&M, what is that?" and I called him out said "Uh yes you have, what about that shirt you were wearing in that one picture?" I was referring to the shirt in the photo above, and I have no idea if that shirt is from H&M or not. And that was about the bulk of my dream.

It was very exciting to meet him and I was slightly upset with Bryan that in my darkest hours of twilight obsessing he never told me he went to school with him! I know that other people's dreams never make sense to anyone, but I am a dream sharer, and I definitely want to remember this one! Bryan thinks Twilight tears relationships apart, but I think the other night I found a way for it to bring us all together!

How do I love thee...

license plate blacked out to protect the innocent

I may not always seem like the most appreciative person, but I secretly am. This morning I came outside to find my car parked under the carport when I know I didn't leave it there the night before. And that isn't all. The seat was pushed forward to just the right spot, so you wouldn't have even known a tall person backed it in for me. It makes it even sweeter that by the time I was leaving for work, it was snowing and the ground was covered. Which would have meant that I would have to scrape my windshield or let my car sit and defrost...but I didn't. Someone must really love me.

Heartache

This is my new favorite blog. I don't know what it is exactly, but the emotion it evokes makes me feel like my chest is about to crack open. I don't understand it, just as the person says, but I can't get enough. I can't tell if it is a man to a woman, a woman to a woman, or a man to a man...but I want it to be about me. At the same time, I'd hate to consume so much of someones life and thoughts. So much that they probably aren't out there enjoying their life because they are so obsessed with someone. I wonder if the person who was meant to read this ever found it. I hope they did...

Jcrew Home

I want this bedroom. I want to sink into that bed in the natural light and read a book, or watch a movie. I bet this room doesn't even have a TV, because it's so relaxing you couldn't stay awake long enough to watch it. You'd fall asleep immediately. Issy is whining at me right now and I've come to realize even if I had this room, I'd never be able to relax unless I locked the dogs out of the room. They would ruin those white sheets, and insist on sleeping under the covers on my side so I can't stretch out my legs. Which means I'd probably end up on the couch in that beautiful sitting area. Wait...I wonder if I had a couch in my room if the dogs would sleep there...hmm.



I've had this bedroom photo for a long time and it makes me want black windows in my next house. Every time I see a house with black windows I point it out to Bryan to try to convince him that it's the way to go. This bedroom reminds me of Jcrew, and I love Jcrew. Even if I can never decided on anything to buy there. I really wish they would start a Jcrew Home Store. I probably couldn't afford anything in it, but it would be amazing. I imagine it would look a little like this...

I can't complain...things are looking pretty good at our house right now. My Honey (he hates pet names) is working hard to finish projects. I wonder where the sudden motivation came from?

Sur le weekend

Monday is looming and I am not ready. I am sitting on the couch attempting to hydrate so I can go to yoga, and making up excuses why I should skip it in my head. After this weekends festivities, I should definitely go... We started out the weekend with a lovely cheese fondue at my parent's house. They always put on a wonderful production complete with little swiss cow napkins and coasters, compliments of my Grandma in Switzerland. It was sooo good, I really could have kept going, but luckily we ran out of cheese. We also got to see our nephew Jackson who is growing like a weed. My sister let me feed him his first mashed potatoes, mixed with prunes. I know gross right? I tasted it, it wasn't that bad. But Jackson thought it was...

We continued to feed it to him and laugh...until he started gagging a little and we realized something wasn't right. Poor baby tortured by 3 women. Life is rough when you're that cute.

Here is a better picture of the cutie pie with Uncle Bryan and Auntie Nikki (I'm showing off my new eyeshadow...okay no I just close my eyes in every picture)

Saturday was a full day for me. We took the dogs to the dog park very early because we didn't have any dog food so we had to head that way anyway. Issy beat up a 6 month old lab puppy. I kept asking the lady if she wanted me to make them stop wrestling, but she said they were okay. When she was leaving I apologized and she said "that's okay he likes it rough." I was shocked she would say such a thing to strangers...okay, she really said "he likes it like that" but in my twisted head I thought...he likes it rough does he? And sadly, that is probably what I would have said out loud, to strangers, if I had been in her situation. We then left to walk the dogs with Bryan's Mom up in her neighborhood. It was freezing, but the sun was out and the dogs were pooped so it was a productive morning.

After that I headed downtown to have lunch with co-workers Kaitlyn and Angela to see Bride Wars. HILARIOUS! Very funny. Makes me want to have another wedding, and have the wardrobe like Anne Hathaway and Kate Hudson. I love that they live in these little New York apartments...where do they keep all those clothes? I guess Kate Hudson did have a walk-in closet. Afterwards I drove South to meet up with Bryan and friends at Jimmy Mac's where I ate 4 of those Jimmy Mac's yeast rolls (with butter) and a side salad. YUM! The next best thing would have been dipping those rolls in cheese...
So here I am on Sunday...20 minutes until I have to leave for yoga, and I've only had 1 glass of water, and Issy punched me in the face this morning so I have a fat scratch under my eye. I should go right? I mean did you read what I ate this weekend? And I didn't even tell you about the Thai food Kaitlyn and I consumed. Okay...one more glass of water and little suffering and it will be dinner time...I think I can handle that. Hope everyone had as good a weekend as me. I really did have a good weekend, it didn't feel wasted and Bryan did a lot of cleaning, which somehow makes me feel productive. Thanks Bryan!

**UPDATE: I shouldn't have gone to yoga. On the way there I got a speeding ticket! I tried to be overly polite and say sorry and the cop was all "What's your last name? How 'bout I just call you Miss Nikki." How about you don't. After he doled out the assault on a piece of paper and walked away, the tears started to flow. Great. Thanks body. You couldn't have produced tears 5 minutes earlier?? After all, I had been hydrating.

A hat for every occasion

image courtesy of Brenda Lynn

and The Wisteria House

I'm thinking of buying a hat. The problem is, I have a small head. I know what you're thinking...day 2 and she's already talking about her small head...but it's true, and it's a problem. Do you think I could pull off a beret? Hats always fall over my ears but a beret is meant to be worn over your ears, and slightly off kilter. Which would go great with my disheveled ways. When I was in preschool I wore my mom's knit scotty dog beret for 'hat day'. It was cute, it had little scotty dogs all over it. But alas, I was made fun of by the blond girl in the cowboy hat. Maybe it's time to face my fear. I like this one by Brenda Lynn. I'd wear mine with a shirt though, because really what's the point of a hat if you're still cold.

Flashback Friday

January 2006- So young and naive, taking our dog Charlie to puppy class. He graduated, and we learned that we are not disciplinarians. Or as I like to believe, that our dogs are just demonic. Things haven't changed much since then (oh good because it's only been 3 years...). Bryan has graduated from the fluorescent phase of his life, and I think I lost that black zip up...or did I?

(I think I should go back and change my settings to adult content, do you see what I see? Sick.)

So there is your little intro to our family-minus big dog Issy who moves too fast for the camera. I'm sure you will see her one of these days. Happy Friday and I hope you (whomever you are) have a great weekend!

$10 says I forget about this thing over the weekend...just like the goat cheese from Thanksgiving that is still in the back of my fridge. Gross. On the weekend agenda: Clean out the fridge.

If you can't beat em', join em'

Hi my name is Nikki and I am a blog fanatic. (Hi Nikki)....

After much consideration, and my mother starting one, I decided to start my own blog. For the past year I've done nothing but lurk on other people's blogs, living vicariously through others lives. Now I will document my own trials and tribulations and attempt to come up with some interesting content. If I succeed, fantastic. If not...well here is to the most boring blog you may ever set your eyes on.

Welcome!