For Anna. And for anyone else who wants to live a happy life--
These are the cupcakes that I made for the dinner party the other night. And my sister just made them yesterday for a party in Arizona. As you know, cupcakes are all the rage these days. The cupcakes were made famous by my lovely Aunt Linda-- the expert in all things delicious.
Black Bottom Cupcakes
Beat together:
8 oz. cream cheese
1/3 c. sugar
1 egg
dash of salt
Stir in:
6 oz. chocolate chips
Set cream cheese mixture aside. (My aunt says she often uses fewer chocolate chips. This recipe has a lot of chocolate, even for choco-fanatics.)
Mix the following until well blended:
1 c. sugar
1/4 c. cocoa
1 c. water
1 T. vinegar
1 1/2 c. flour
1 tsp. soda
1/2 tsp. salt
1/3 c. oil
1 tsp. vanilla
1 egg
Fill 24 (I don't get that many) cupcake liners about 1/2 full. Top with heaping teaspoon of cream cheese mixture. Bake 25-30 minutes at 350 degrees.
Frosting (which I consider optional):
1/4 c. melted margarine
1/4 c. cocoa
1 1/2 c. powdered sugar
1 tsp. vanilla
enough milk to make spreadable
Cupcakes should cool completely before they are frosted.
28 May 2009
Trim Your Nails Today. It's Thursday.
I don't like saying that a day is a bad day, because when you say it, you cement it. Once you announce that a day is bad--there is no turning back--the day is bad. And that's that. But, right now, it's Thursday and I'm about to speak in the past-tense. Tuesday was bad. I'm not condemning my current day to misery by proclaiming Tuesday's badness. Tuesday is already condemned.
At the end of Tuesday, after a day of badness, consisting of nothing all that bad, I'd had enough of it and I made a decision. As I stared at my white ceiling while lying in my bed, I decided that I was going to wake up and say goodbye to Tuesday the bad day. Forever.
I woke up to sunshine from my tiny window on Wednesday. And you wouldn't know it, but it was the same sunshine that woke me up on Tuesday, it's just that Wednesday's sun was glorious. I balance-walked on the curb as I made my way down to school. And shock of all shocks, my finance class was fascinating.
Later that afternoon, I trimmed my fingernails.That single event is the sign of all signs that my yesterday was a good one.
I would NEVER trim my fingernails on a bad day. How awful would that be? Just imagine, there I am thinking my day can't get any worse and I start trimming my fingernails. What?! That would be depressing. When a bad day is already bad, sitting and trimming fingernails would be rock bottom. My head would say, Hello Laura? Do you have nothing better to do with your tragic day than sit and cut off the dead cells growing out of your finger tips?
And that's why I trimmed my fingernails on good Wednesday. Because on Wednesday, as I clipped off each sliver of excess nail, I was in the right mindset. Instead of cursing my pathetic life that left me with a strange metal tool and dead cells, I basked in the glory of pampering myself so fully.
At the end of Tuesday, after a day of badness, consisting of nothing all that bad, I'd had enough of it and I made a decision. As I stared at my white ceiling while lying in my bed, I decided that I was going to wake up and say goodbye to Tuesday the bad day. Forever.
I woke up to sunshine from my tiny window on Wednesday. And you wouldn't know it, but it was the same sunshine that woke me up on Tuesday, it's just that Wednesday's sun was glorious. I balance-walked on the curb as I made my way down to school. And shock of all shocks, my finance class was fascinating.
Later that afternoon, I trimmed my fingernails.That single event is the sign of all signs that my yesterday was a good one.
I would NEVER trim my fingernails on a bad day. How awful would that be? Just imagine, there I am thinking my day can't get any worse and I start trimming my fingernails. What?! That would be depressing. When a bad day is already bad, sitting and trimming fingernails would be rock bottom. My head would say, Hello Laura? Do you have nothing better to do with your tragic day than sit and cut off the dead cells growing out of your finger tips?
And that's why I trimmed my fingernails on good Wednesday. Because on Wednesday, as I clipped off each sliver of excess nail, I was in the right mindset. Instead of cursing my pathetic life that left me with a strange metal tool and dead cells, I basked in the glory of pampering myself so fully.
23 May 2009
22 May 2009
"A party is a party, but a party on a summer's eve..."
Dinner Party : my favorite pastime; an excuse to clean, cook extravagantly, and dress up; a gathering of people for pleasure and food; almost synonymous with "hanging out", but not quite.
Last night, a good friend and her lovely family came to my house for a summer dinner party. We ate grilled chicken sandwiches with mustard, as recommended by stephmodo. We ended the night with my aunt's famous black-bottom cupcakes; they have a surprise cheesecake middle. I couldn't have been happier with the menu, with the company, or with the sunshine.
Bonus points for identifying the movie quoted in this post's title.
Last night, a good friend and her lovely family came to my house for a summer dinner party. We ate grilled chicken sandwiches with mustard, as recommended by stephmodo. We ended the night with my aunt's famous black-bottom cupcakes; they have a surprise cheesecake middle. I couldn't have been happier with the menu, with the company, or with the sunshine.
Bonus points for identifying the movie quoted in this post's title.
20 May 2009
Weasel
A good friend once called me a weasel. And that was the beginning of my love affair with the perfect insult.
Weasel. As in-- you're a weasel.
It has the ideal blend of sting and sarcasm. The perfect combination of I'm-trying-to-be-funny and I'm-totally-serious-so-watch-your-back.
You call someone a weasel and they laugh because it's weird, but they're nonetheless perplexed and without response. You leave them thinking about what they did to become synonymous with a furry, long-tailed mammal. And once they figure out what they did to establish themselves as a weasel, they stop doing whatever it was.
Because no one wants to be a furry, long-tailed mammal with short legs and whiskers.
15 May 2009
A List of Twelve Things
- Francis, the raccoon that lives in my fireplace, is alive, well, and still making mating noises in my chimney. For more on this-- here and here.
- I walked to my car yesterday and saw a neon green envelope on my windshield. A parking ticket. Another parking ticket from BYU's loving police force. I can't count how many I have gotten in the last two years. Seriously, the police force loves me-- see #9 on this list.
-I bought a whole bag of chocolate covered cinnamon bears before my finance test. And no, contrary to your first assumption when you read that last sentence, I did not eat them all. Only half of them.
- When I wear orange, I feel like a pumpkin. I am a striped pumpkin today. My orange shirt has stripes.
- Even though it is getting warm outside, I still sleep with two doubled-over blankets and one quilt. That is five thick layers of warm goodness.
- Yesterday, my library books were due. I only read one of them before I had to return them. The House on Mango Street. You should read it. It's good. I drove up to the drive-through book-drop and pushed the books into the metal container. When I pushed the books inside, my hand got stuck and it hurt.
- In a disgusting way, I love to peel after a sunburn. Skin is coming off my back as I write. I'm peeling the skin in big chunks, but not nearly as big as the pieces I was peeling off my thighs last summer.
- Tomorrow night is the Springville Art Ball. Every living soul should go to this event at least once in their lifetime. The best part of the whole experience is choosing what to wear. It's always a debate. Dress up or dress down. I wore a legitimate ball gown one year; the next year I wore a semi-formal. This year? My outfit has not yet been determined.
- Today's favorite song: Lisa Hannigan, I Don't Know.
- For the last week, I have had the music turned up in my car to an unsafe level. I'm on a loud-music kick. Yesterday, I sat on the floor with a friend. He commented on some snoring noises that were coming from someone upstairs. I couldn't hear them. I couldn't hear any snoring.
- The lazuli bunting stops at our bird feeder every May as it migrates from its Mexican winter home back North. My sister saw it yesterday. I want to see it today.
- I'm going on a hot date tonight and I don't want to feel like a pumpkin. I'm going to take off this orange shirt before I go.
- I walked to my car yesterday and saw a neon green envelope on my windshield. A parking ticket. Another parking ticket from BYU's loving police force. I can't count how many I have gotten in the last two years. Seriously, the police force loves me-- see #9 on this list.
-I bought a whole bag of chocolate covered cinnamon bears before my finance test. And no, contrary to your first assumption when you read that last sentence, I did not eat them all. Only half of them.
- When I wear orange, I feel like a pumpkin. I am a striped pumpkin today. My orange shirt has stripes.
- Even though it is getting warm outside, I still sleep with two doubled-over blankets and one quilt. That is five thick layers of warm goodness.
- Yesterday, my library books were due. I only read one of them before I had to return them. The House on Mango Street. You should read it. It's good. I drove up to the drive-through book-drop and pushed the books into the metal container. When I pushed the books inside, my hand got stuck and it hurt.
- In a disgusting way, I love to peel after a sunburn. Skin is coming off my back as I write. I'm peeling the skin in big chunks, but not nearly as big as the pieces I was peeling off my thighs last summer.
- Tomorrow night is the Springville Art Ball. Every living soul should go to this event at least once in their lifetime. The best part of the whole experience is choosing what to wear. It's always a debate. Dress up or dress down. I wore a legitimate ball gown one year; the next year I wore a semi-formal. This year? My outfit has not yet been determined.
- Today's favorite song: Lisa Hannigan, I Don't Know.
- For the last week, I have had the music turned up in my car to an unsafe level. I'm on a loud-music kick. Yesterday, I sat on the floor with a friend. He commented on some snoring noises that were coming from someone upstairs. I couldn't hear them. I couldn't hear any snoring.
- The lazuli bunting stops at our bird feeder every May as it migrates from its Mexican winter home back North. My sister saw it yesterday. I want to see it today.
- I'm going on a hot date tonight and I don't want to feel like a pumpkin. I'm going to take off this orange shirt before I go.
14 May 2009
A morning like this shouldn't be ruined with financial calculators.
There are mornings when you wake up and every part of you knows-- every skin cell, every neuron, every hair on your arm knows that it is a day for lying in the grass and drawing pictures of clouds. Even your eyebrows know that it is a kite-flying day. This morning was one of those mornings.
And I'm studying in the library.
[painting by Julie Morstad, How to Make a Kite]
11 May 2009
Dear Mom,
I miss you. Wish you could be here for the craziness that is my life. I think you'd like it. The craziness and my life. I think you would be proud of me. Let's talk to you in present-tense, yeah? I think you are proud of me.
I'm pretty sure you like my short hair. You've always said I look good with short hair. It's probably because I inherited your face shape. You look good with short hair. Or longer hair. Truth is, you just look good. Always so beautiful. So naturally beautiful. I talk about your striking eyes often. They're the feature I miss seeing the most.
It's Mother's Day today. But, I'm writing to you after midnight, so it's not actually Mother's Day anymore. So, happy belated Mother's Day. It was also the two year anniversary. A big day. Mother's Day and May 10. They were on the same day this year.
I went to the cemetery and sat in the grass by your stone. The grass is green by your stone. It is green and soft. I love running my toes through soft grass. You like soft grass too. And you like mowing grass. I hope you're mowing a lot of grass these days.
I have school again in the morning. I want to whine to you about that. I don't really want to go to class and I don't really want to do homework and I don't really want to take tests. But, I'm going to do it anyway. I need advice. How do you stay motivated when you just think you have reached your limit? How do you make yourself wake up at eight when nothing in you wants to?
More advice is needed. Advice is always needed. If you get a chance, send me advice. Frankly, I don't even care the topic. Just send advice if you can.
It was Mother's Day and I just want to tell you that you are the best. It's true, you're the very best. And I wanted to tell you that I miss you. Because I do.
Love,
Laura
P.S. We stole the lavender flowers that we put on your stone for Mother's Day. But, they were hanging over the road and I don't think anyone will mind. Just wanted to confess.
I'm pretty sure you like my short hair. You've always said I look good with short hair. It's probably because I inherited your face shape. You look good with short hair. Or longer hair. Truth is, you just look good. Always so beautiful. So naturally beautiful. I talk about your striking eyes often. They're the feature I miss seeing the most.
It's Mother's Day today. But, I'm writing to you after midnight, so it's not actually Mother's Day anymore. So, happy belated Mother's Day. It was also the two year anniversary. A big day. Mother's Day and May 10. They were on the same day this year.
I went to the cemetery and sat in the grass by your stone. The grass is green by your stone. It is green and soft. I love running my toes through soft grass. You like soft grass too. And you like mowing grass. I hope you're mowing a lot of grass these days.
I have school again in the morning. I want to whine to you about that. I don't really want to go to class and I don't really want to do homework and I don't really want to take tests. But, I'm going to do it anyway. I need advice. How do you stay motivated when you just think you have reached your limit? How do you make yourself wake up at eight when nothing in you wants to?
More advice is needed. Advice is always needed. If you get a chance, send me advice. Frankly, I don't even care the topic. Just send advice if you can.
It was Mother's Day and I just want to tell you that you are the best. It's true, you're the very best. And I wanted to tell you that I miss you. Because I do.
Love,
Laura
P.S. We stole the lavender flowers that we put on your stone for Mother's Day. But, they were hanging over the road and I don't think anyone will mind. Just wanted to confess.
07 May 2009
Happy Odd Day
It's an odd day. Quite literally. The date is 05/07/09. Do you see how all of those are odd numbers? And how they're in a row? Fascinating, eh? I like odd numbers. My favorite number is 3. Or 7. Maybe it's 5. My favorite number changes, but it is always odd. The next "odd" day won't happen until 2011: 07/09/11. And this is the only odd day in this century that lands on a Thursday.
Celebrate Odd Day. And celebrate a lot of other random holidays. I believe in celebrating. Celebrate tomorrow, because tomorrow is National Coconut Cream Pie Day.
Celebrate Odd Day. And celebrate a lot of other random holidays. I believe in celebrating. Celebrate tomorrow, because tomorrow is National Coconut Cream Pie Day.
01 May 2009
Seventy-Five Grams
My feet are tired from sitting. Sounds impossible, right? It's not. My feet are tired from sitting and my eyes are tired from staring. I've been at work, sitting and staring at a computer screen. Writing and re-writing the text for a website. Fascinating, I know.
About midday, in the middle of all the monotony, it became clear that I needed something to add a little kick to my life. If I didn't get a kick, it was highly probable that I would morph into my office chair, doomed to sit and stare forever. So, I slid my dollars into the vending machine and held my breath to see if it would push the dollars back out. It didn't. It kept the dollars and gave me a bag of Sour Patch watermelons.
I ate the whole bag of watermelons. Every. Single. One. And with every one, I rubbed the rough sugar-encrusted candy against my tongue. My tongue is raw. And do you know how many grams are in one serving of Sour Patch watermelons? I do. Twenty-five. Do you know how many servings I ate? I do. Three.
If that's not a kick, I don't know what is.
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