Overboard.

Well, folks. It's that time again to link up with Sami over at Symmetry in Motion for this month's Symfully Sweet Saturday! Rest assured, I did not take this month's competition laying down. Allow me to fill you in:

To help keep the competition interesting, I had a strong desire to try my hand in the culinary section of my store of creativity. It began with these little beauties and evolved (I'm sorry... snowballed) from there. As you continue to read, you'll see I got way out of hand.


Yes, cupcakes. But not just any cupcake. Vanilla cupcakes with a Buttercream Candy Corn frosting. Wait. Did she just say "Buttercream Candy Corn"? Why yes, she did.



Who knew that they made such a thing? Turns out this cute little site makes just about everything. I even picked up some "Candy Apple" flavoring to spice up the Apple Spiced Cuppies I made last year.


That's all well and good, but how did they taste?



One reviewer had this to say, "Mom, you should make these again!" Need I say more?

Lest you think I forgot the inside. It didn't go as planned, I'll admit. It was supposed to be layers, like, well, Candy Corn. Ah well, I accept.

They're cute anyway, right?

Even with these cute little cuppies in the holster, I could not be done. It might have been all the candy corn coursing through my veins over the last week, but I could not stop. Hmm... cupcakes mean birthdays. Birthdays mean parties. At least, in my world, it does. What next?



Aw. Now that's a cute little handmade box of Candy Corn. Oh, wait...

Keep turning...


Ah, gee! Now that's just darling! It's a treat and an invitation?! You say I get an invitation to the party of the year as well as an ounce of Candy Corn?! Where do I sign?

I'm sorry. Your mouth is so full of delicious treats that I cannot understand you. Come again? Oh! You say that the positively sinful sweetness of my cupcakes has made you thirsty? May I offer you refreshment...?

And since no party would be complete without an edible parting gift, I present:



Party Favors a la Brooks: The Candy Corn Cake Pop. Original recipe, courtesy of the baking diva herself: Bakerella. Design and yummy execution: yours truly.

Does life get any sweeter than this? I submit not.

Just the Two of Us

So, I've gotten to do a lot of fun things lately. I blame my awesome husband for enabling me to do things that very well may turn into addictions. Let's be honest, though. They already were addictions. Card-Making and now (thanks to Maggie and Monica...) Spa Weekends. My sister, Sami, saw my post about my spa weekend in April and was green with envy. She decided that we ought to have one in the fall. Through much twisting of my arm, she was able to get me to agree and when she flew in on Thursday, we were ready to get our relaxation on!

Since I was a good blogger and took an insane amount of pictures, I will share my weekend with you in pictures.

We began our weekend on Friday morning at the Outlets. We got some really cute clothes, but this photo showcases one of my favorite moments in the day: shopping for sunglasses. I am borderline retarded when it comes to choosing eyewear so Sami was able to help my decision along. Isn't she fashionable?? I really like the shop-lifting safety advocate in the background.

We then headed to the hotel to check in and get gussied up for dinner/Girls Night Out. Too bad no one but us showed up. Ah, well. At least I had a hot date! Sami was a good sport and let me do her makeup... ain't she pritty??

Not sure why my teeth look orange in this picture. Please ignore that...

All dressed up and ready to go in our new outfits from White House Black Market. You don't have to say it, we know we're dead-sexy.

And no better place to eat than Lucille's Bar-B-Que! Yummy!

I can still smell the warm biscuits and apple butter.

My new hat from Charlotte Russe. It was too cute to pass up. Now if only I could figure out when and where it is appropriate to wear ridiculously adorable hats...?

Our hotel was pretty nice. Forget for a moment that it's basically like the Labyrinth on the inside, and it was awesome. We did meet a lot of nice guys willing to help us find our way. Either we looked pretty cute, or they were really drunk. At least we found our way. And the guy that touched Sami's neck was at least a 6. Not too shabby... Oh, yeah, the picture. Our room actually had a doorbell! Talk about fancy! Here is Sami, demonstrating exactly how cool we thought that it was.

I'm a sucker for a nice bathroom. This one ranks in the top 5 I've ever been in 'cause it had a chandelier. I know... I'm tough to impress.

Our room also had a balcony! It might not be much to you, but I've never stayed in a room that had one, so it must be elite. It didn't matter that recent precipitation left a good 2 inches of water on it and since we don't smoke, it was practically useless. It was still there.

The view from the balcony. It might mostly just be tree-top view, but it was MY tree-top view! Oh, and you see the little sliver of pool?? Pool-side, baby! Like I said, elite.

And on to the main event! We got to the spa around noon and enjoyed a 50-minute couples massage. Obviously, I don't have any pictures of that, but here's the before shot of our feet. Pretty snazzy footwear, eh? Spa regulation sandals. Beats the disposable flip-flops we were wearing after our pedicures. I nearly killed myself on them. Turns out, they're really slick!

Us in our paraffin-boot glory. Flattering, I know. Each thing that they put on our feet smelled better than the last. By the time they were brushing the bottom of my feet with a pumpkin pie scented mask, I wanted to eat my own feet.

During our pedicures, there was a wedding being set up. It began while we were waiting for our polish to dry and since the procession was being serenaded by a famous singer from a Christian rock band called Stryper, the ladies at the spa couldn't resist flinging open the doors and inviting us to watch the strangers wed from the main entrance in our bathrobes. This is the only picture I got (which isn't great) before security shut me down. Strange considering that the attending security guard and I go way back...

While we were getting ready to exit the spa, we noticed several people using a strange machine on which they would stand while the machine would shake them. Since I've decided to try to be more flexible and try things I otherwise wouldn't, I decided "What the hay?". It's called TurboSonic and apparently it detoxifies one's body by taking it through various degrees of shaking. According to the digital reader on the machine, in the ten minutes I was on it, I burned 150 calories. I'm pretty sure that would have to be from the laughing and not from the shaking though I'll reserve judgement until I see some scientific data from an independent researcher. Mostly, all it did for me is shake me to the point of nearly peeing.

Sami, trying to figure out the miracle machine.

The result. I miss you already , Green Valley Ranch Resort. Miss you already.

Oh, and you too, Sami.

Stamp-A-Thon, October Edition.

Since my dear friend, Kris, invited me to my first card/stamping workshop in February 2008, I have fallen in love. In love with stamping. In love with card-making. In love with really cool tools for stamping and card making. And most of all, in love with the idea of being gone from real life for a whole day, doing something that I love with a bunch of people that I love.

Twice a year, there is such an event in Saint George, put on by one Jill Olsen. It. Is. Fantastic. I have only ever let myself go to one a year in February, but after much longing and deliberation, I decided and organized a group with our course set to Utah in October.

Saturday was the big day. We left early in the morning and returned late-ish in the evening. We had the best time with good friends, good food, good shopping, and of course enough craft ideas to make our collective head explode with joy.

Table #1

Table #2

Table #3 (Somehow entirely unpictured: Staci)

These are some of the favorites that we were able to make:

Dinner at Mongolian Barbecue. This is the before shot.

You pick out your uncooked food and sauce and after cooking it in front of you on a giant wok:

Voila! Dinner. The food was pretty good and I gotta admit it was pretty cool, but I can't lie, the atmosphere was a little iffy. Notice the cardboard boxes they are standing on? Definitely a new experience... maybe I need more of those.

Just had to add this in. Mason, enjoying his spoils from the Rocky Mountain Chocolate Factory located in the same shopping center as the Mongolian Barbecue. I couldn't forget my babies entirely...

Wish you were here?

The new Mr. Owl

As I was finishing an all-too-quiet shower this morning, I turned off the water and was immediately greeted by:

"Riiip! (*giggle, giggle, giggle*)."

Knowing this was not a good sound, I quickly dried off just enough water to not slide across the linoleum, and ran to see what my youngest child was up to. I could do nothing but shake my head and laugh at what I found:

At least someone liked it.

Now tell me, Mason. How many licks does it take?